Chronicles of the CPDC

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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This is continuing to be a very intriguing read! Hope you can post more of the story soon!
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Nathan Kerbonaut
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Nathan Kerbonaut »

Totally not jealous. :P I respect Brian for his change of heart. He's a natural great dad, and not just because of the expensive gifts. Great stuff as always, Wortge.
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

College Point Dogs Club, Saturday 7:37 PM

A Beagle and an orange tabby cat were leaning on the part of the wall next to the podium, looking at the movement happening around the club's first floor. All the podium chairs were re-arranged into table sets occupying most of the floor area, some connected tables placed against one of the walls had many remaining hamburger boxes on it, the boxes being separated into groups. Each group had a nameplate with a fast-food chain logo on it, indicating the chain the group was prepared by. About thirty dogs still populated the club, eating burgers and chatting while using the table sets.

"Any idea of when you're gonna close the club?" Xander asked his cat pet-brother.

"I thought we'd run out of burgers eventually, but there's still a fair bit left." Jon started answering. "Brian overdoing things as usual." He rolled his eyes.

"We all went over the consumption estimates, don't blame it all on Brian now. Not like he's risking running out of club funds."

"That's not what I'm worried with, I just don't wanna throw all the remaining burgers away! That'd be some terrible waste!"

"Do you feel like helping them with cleaning up the tables then?" Xander smirked.

"I hope it doesn't come to that. There's no way eating more than two fast-food burgers in one meal is healthy."

"Let's try to forget about all the cholesterol and whatever bad things exist in anything that tastes good for a while. I hope we're not indirectly causing someone's heart attack with this stunt."

"After a certain point it just stops giving you pleasure, I'm not stopping just because I'm concerned for my health or my enviable build. Do *you* feel like eating some of the stuff left?"

"Most of the ones left are Burger King and Subway, I'm not touching that ***. At least now we have statistical proof of what the best fast-food chains are. Who needs 'fast-food tier lists' when we have this?"

"Right. How could I've forgotten your pickiness?" Jon tapped his brother lightly. "I still can't believe we went with this idea. All of this is a result of your little joke about American stereotypes once we finally convinced Brian to not do a clandestine fireworks show."

"It's great, isn't it? A small celebration of corporate hamburger makers! Nothing more American than hamburgers and capitalism!"

"Going political now, bro?"

"What do you expect? This is American Independence Day! We're literally celebrating the continued existence of a sovereign nation! What's more political than that?"

"Yeah, yeah. I don't think anyone here other than you is treating this as some kind of artistic commentary on American consumerism. For them it's just food."

"You think that was my intention? I honestly love me some trashy fast-food! This was the best food-related event we've ever had here! Eight out of ten!" Xander wagged.

"And let me guess, the best game-related event we've ever had here was the StepMania tournament that ended with you destroying everyone?" Jon smirked at the Beagle.

"How do you even know about that already? It wasn't, by the way. In my opinion the best one was the Gauntlet. The 2018 edition, not the 2019 one."

"Uh... What's that, exactly? Should I worry about organizing the 2020 one?"

"What do you mean 'should you worry'? Brian's in charge of setting things up, not you. And the Gauntlets are an October thing, second weekend of the month I believe."

"I just want to help people with the most I can, you know? Be the best cat Walt could ever ask for."

"Stop it with that already, Jon!" Xander almost shouted. "You don't owe anyone anything for being adopted by us! Why can't you accept that?!"

"I can't just take things all the time and never contribute! I'm not sacrificing anything in order to help people, you know?"

"I hope you're right." The dog grumbled. Both pets resumed waiting in silence, looking at the attending dogs. Xander glanced at the main food table and turned to Jon. "Only Subway's left now. Looks like we might actually run out of food."

"Good. We have some really heavy-duty eaters around here, don't we?"

"Some of them, yeah. I guess Brian even takes that into account. And you thought he was 'overdoing things'."

"Shame on me, right? Doubting the Great Brian." Jon deadpanned. "I have much to learn still."

"What do you mean by that? Are you Brian's student now? What have you two been planning during these last mornings, anyways?"

"We'll see. Nothing certain yet."

"What?! What do you mean?! You two can't just keep something secret from me! I'm a co-founder!"

Jon widened his eyes at the outburst. "Wow, Xan. That's the first time I see you trying to use your authority. Brian's just planning on having me replace him when he's away a few times, that's all. You know, just like Hope does sometimes. Or me and you, like right now."

"But!..."

"'But' what?"

"But... But you're a cat! You can't just substitute the manager of a dog club!"

Jon stared at Xander, speechless. "I... I really didn't expect that objection to come from you of all people. You even made me sit in for Brian some months ago."

"That was just a joke! What would some of the members think? I know we three founders are very tolerant towards cats but some dogs still take the whole 'species rivalry' thing seriously, you know?"

"Then it's tough luck for those members."

"Oh well... I'll leave the club worries for Brian... Where is he anyways? I never thought I'd live to see the day Brian decides to skip one of the main yearly events. Even once we're all dead and this building is turned into some generic workplace I'd expect his spirit to still linger here during every human holiday."

"Do you really need to make such morbid comments? And Brian didn't tell me why he decided to skip today, he just told me he would."

"That's... I just hope everything's OK... I don't think anybody's going to eat the remaining sandwiches, by the way. Can we close things off and go home already?"

"Sure."

"Why did Brian order from Subway anyways? They don't make hamburgers, they make heros."

"'Heros'?"

"Yeah. They're like, longer than hamburgers. Hamburger buns are almost a circle while heros use long bread loaves."

"They're 'subs', aren't they? Not heros. Heros are just a local type of sub they make in New York."

"I've always called all of them heros. But I guess with the name 'Subway' it's easier to call them sub sandwiches."

"Sometimes I think living here for almost twenty years makes me a New Yorker. Then you just go on to say stuff like that."

"I'm probably the least proud New Yorker who's still living here instead of moving to Florida. Why do I have to be cursed with such pedigree?" Xander complained sarcastically, then proceeded to wait in silence for some seconds, observing some dogs finishing their food and leaving while some others stayed for the ending speech. "I really don't feel like making the ending speech, bro." The dog confessed shyly, almost shivering.

"You've done it before, haven't you?"

"When the club had like, five members! It's all Brian now! There's still about twenty dogs left here!"

"What if I do it instead?"

"That's a way of getting them used to your future temporary leaderships at least. Do you think you're up to it?"

"Well, I'm definitely more prepared than you at least. Time to put my charisma to the test."

"Famous last words." Xander muttered. Jon stopped leaning on the wall and walked to the podium, standing behind the microphone. Some dogs curiously turned their attention to him, Xander watching the cat with some curiosity and apprehension.

Jon scanned the crowd multiple times, sometimes breathing in but not managing to find any words to say after. Xander gradually looked away from the podium, pretending to not be aware of the cat trying to start a speech.

"Good evening, everyone!" Jon brusquely started. Almost all of the present dogs stopping to look at him, making him almost involuntarily crouch behind the podium. "Uh. First of all, hello!" The cat waved towards the crowd, some of the audience muttering to each other. "I'm Jon Stevenson, filling in for Brian Kuczynski, who's currently absent for unclarified reasons. We're about to close things off here, so make sure to finish your food, please use the trash cans instead of just leaving the hamburger boxes on the tables. And, uh... You can bring the remaining sandwiches home, if you want to." Some of the audience got up and started making their way towards the food table, walking fast but trying to not make it look like a race for the last remaining food. "Now... All feedback on this event and others can be given to the administration at the upper level, during the usual operating hours, or the club's website. Be here for tomorrow's cornhole tounament, if you're interested. Usual afternoon times, info on the website... Have a good night! Hope you all enjoyed the food!" The cat finished the speech but remained behind the podium, looking for a reaction coming from the crowd.

"Good one, cat!" An unknown dog exclaimed from somewhere in the tables.

"Thank you!" Jon replied from the podium, still using the microphone. "I love you all, dogs! You're great! Woo!" He cheered, unsure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Are we gonna drop the 'Dog' from the club's name at some point?!" Another member asked.

"Very unlikely." Jon started answering very formally. "I'm substituting Brian along with my very shy dog brother, who's right there." He pointed at Xander, who quickly started pretending he wasn't shying away before. "At least he has the right credentials for that, but when was the last time he's made a speech, huh?" A few dogs in the audience let out short, probably fake laughs.

"What's the deal with 'cornhole'?" The cat impersonated a stand-up comedian. "Is there corn involved? I don't want holes in my corns!" The dogs now either watched with confusion or started leaving the premises.

Xander immediately got the courage to almost run towards the podium. "Jon! What are you even doing?!" He interrupted. "It's over! You're dismissed!" They switched places at the podium. "Good night everyone! Finish your stuff!" Xander announced, using the mic, then quickly stepping off and heading to the club entrance, his brother following.

The two brothers now stood next to the entrance, leaning on the wall. Watching the club slowly empty. "Was that speech fine?" Jon asked after some silence.

"It was good enough. You hesitated a little compared to Brian, who just somehow delivers them as if he's reading from a teleprompter. I didn't really understand the little routine at the end though."

"Neither did I, sorry. Just felt like playing a little with the dogs here."

"Do you have a thing for dogs, Jon? Can I finally start teasing you about it?"

"Only once I start going out with groups of dogs and bringing dogs home. Not now."

"Tsk. I don't know why I think you helping this club is equivalent to what I do with cats, I'm just hopeless."

"Don't feel bad about that. Can't blame you for having good taste."

"I don't like a lot of the things you like though."

"I said 'good' taste, not 'perfect' taste." The cat teasingly boasted.

The two waited until there was only one attending member left, the remaining dog hastily packing a backpack he was carrying with him.

"Quick quiz for you, Jon." Xander began. "Who's the only remaining member there?"

"You want the name?"

"Yeah."

"... Boreal."

"Ooh. Good job, that's correct."

"Easy to remember the more unusual names. I'd never be able to remember a 'Michael' or 'Jake'."

"These aren't really dog names, are they? They're even unusual in how formal they are, in a way."

"It's a weird mixture of 'Boomers' and 'Johns'. Especially with a lot of pets naming their own litter nowadays. You don't have Dalmatians naming their pups 'Spot' as if having spots in their fur is a special thing for them, for example."

"Good point... I've never asked Walt's parents why they named me 'Xander'."

"It's a human name, but not too formal. I don't need to explain my naming, do I?"

"You don't, I get it. Does it remind you of your old owners?"

"Uuh... A little."

Boreal soon left the club, not making eye contact with the two organizers.

Jon loudly clapped once. "And it's done! Food was had by all!"

"There's still one hero left there, I guess I have to eat it now." Xander walked up to the food table.

"Let's clean everything up once you're done, alright?" Jon asked while following the dog.

"Of course. If this food weren't free I'd start asking Brian for some compensation, not gonna lie."

"Only after five years of almost working for Brian you start thinking of that?"

"Has it really been five years? Jeez. Do you feel like you need compensation for this little task we had today?"

"All the compensation I need is knowing that I helped the community. Giving something back after forcing your dad to adopt me because I'm too scared of moving away."

Xander groaned. "Stop that! I love having you as my brother! Your adoption is the best thing that's happened to us this year! Not like that's some fierce competition." He quickly muttered. "Do you need another hug?"

"N- Sure! Give me another hug, big dog!" The two hugged, Jon patting Xander on the back while they were still embracing. "This is silly, since when am I this sentimental?" The cat asked after the hug was over.

"Don't hide that side of you from me, it's super cute." Xander said while turning away from Jon and approaching the food table. "Why the howl did I say that out loud." He quickly mumbled. Xander finally grabbed the remaining sandwich from the table, unwrapping it and starting to eat it.

Jon stretched and quickly looked over the messy first floor. "You know? I do think I'm punishing myself a little too much these past weeks."

Stevenson Residence, Saturday 9:49 PM

The two pets occupied their usual spots in their bedroom. Jon using his laptop computer while lying on the lower level of their bunk bed, Xander sitting at his computer desk. Both pets remained in silence ever since they had arrived from the club.

"Agh!" Jon suddenly started complaining. "This thing keeps freezing for a few seconds and making this weird whir. The hard drive's going to die, isn't it?"

"How old is your PC again?" Xander asked from his desk.

"It's eight years old, I believe."

"Eight?! Are you serious? How do you even do stuff with the thing?"

"It still works. Although I'm afraid that won't be for long."

"I've never had a hard drive failure, so... Just try backing up everything that can't be easily replaced."

"Been doing that ever since this machine started doing this, two years or so ago."

"Huh. If this has been persisting for so long you shouldn't worry so much."

"Your PC doesn't do that, does it?"

"No. But it uses M dot two drives, not hard drives."

"Do they never break or something?"

"They probably can. Never looked too much into that. Maybe they're more reliable, maybe they're not, I just know they're faster. Are you gonna get a new computer if yours fails?"

"Only with my own money."

"What do you mean 'own money'?! Why are you like this now?! Just tell Walt what you want out of your new PC instead of dodging the question every time he brings it up! Then there'll be no more worries of losing your files!"

"I'm not having Walt spend more money on me unnecessarily. Stop insisting on that. The poor guy already had to buy this new bed, he's not getting me a new computer on top of that and that's final."

"The bed cost barely three hundred dollars! Do you think Walt's struggling? Just ask him how much money he has in his savings and you'll stop worrying about bankrupting him because of a bed and a computer, I guarantee you."

"It doesn't matter if Walt is rich or not, he could have millions and I'd still not accept unwarranted gifts. I just don't deserve a new computer, that's all."

"Aren't you already helping the club to make up for your sins or whatever's destroying your conscience lately?"

"Not enough... Sorry for bringing something up that would inevitably lead into this discussion again. Love you, bro."

"Love you too, Jon... You're really worrying me with all this self-hate lately."

"I wouldn't call it that."

"When did you even start acting like this? You came home, you asked me to shelter you. At that time you were all happy and carefree and super stoked about living with another pet. Then as soon as you get actually adopted by us, you don't want anything done for you and you keep going on about how moving out was actually super selfish. What caused that change? Tell me."

Jon sighed deeply. "Uh... I just talked to some people about it. The first time I talked about it with pets other than you, most of them were actually outraged at me abandoning my owners just because of a planned move and too much noise." Jon started concentrating on not wavering his voice. "It suddenly made me realize... Just how entitled I was acting the whole time. They spent thousands on me, all they wanted was my happiness and my love back. And I just threw them out because I'm attached to a stupid city."

"'Attached to a stupid city'?! Jon! Listen to yourself! You'd leave everyone you know behind! Who were those pets anyways? I bet they've never moved in their whole lives, just assuming we have to follow humans around no matter what they put us through."

"Just some 'Cats of Queens' people. If you think about it, they're really helping Brian with running the club in some very indirect way."

"Helping the club indirectly or not, I'm gonna go over those Discord logs right now. That was in late May, wasn't it? Some people are about to get ***listed."

"You'll just see how reasonable they all were. When I was living here 'temporarily', at no point I ever thought of how I was just being a burden nitpicking on what my perfect, pampered life should be like."

"You remind me a little of Rob. He sometimes talks about how he gets a lot of things done for him while he doesn't help with anything, but he doesn't start rejecting things and hating himself over that."

"Well. At least he didn't abandon his owner, did he?"

"He wants nothing to do with the human who was married to his owner, and it's partly because she started trying to encourage him to move far away. Very similar to your story, you're two sides of the same coin."

"I should talk to that mutt a little bit more, to be honest. Next time I see him in the club I'll bring it up."

"Xander!" A voice from the living room called. "Your millionaire friend just parked his Ferrari in our driveway again! He's probably here to see you!"

"I'm coming, Walt!" Xander exclaimed as he got up and started walking to the front door. "It's a Maserati, by the way! And he's not a milliona- Well, he is. But that word sounds like an exaggeration even when it's the truth." He said while in the same room as Walt.

The doorbell rang, Xander arriving just in time to answer it. He opened the door and was greeted by two Golden Retrievers standing side-by-side, his old friend and an unknown dog.

"Hello, Xander." Brian greeted cordially with a handshake. "I'm actually here for Jon. He's home, right?"

"He is." The Beagle looked curiously at the other Retriever, who was just idly switching between looking at the inside of the house and Brian. "Is this one of your brothers, Brian?"

"This is Luke, my son." Brian declared proudly.

"Oh. I thought you didn't really care about being used for breeding once?"

"Xan, please! Not in front of him! Don't bring up how I ignored my offspring for so long, this is a new me."

"Ugh. I'm having enough of 'new me's already. Jon suddenly thinks he doesn't deserve anything, now you're suddenly abandoning the club to hang out with the kids you had ages ago. I swear if next time I go talk to Rob he starts talking about how he's giving up on traveling and is planning to move to a farm, I'll just give up on you three and declare Spline and Grape as my new best friends."

"Rob didn't imply anything like that last time I saw him, you're good. Could you just get Jon for me? It's getting late."

"One Jon coming right up!" Xander impersonated a vendor and turned around before heading back to his room, not noticing Luke following him. "Brian's here to talk to you." He told his pet-brother as he entered his bedroom again.

"I'm going." The orange tabby replied, noticing the Golden Retriever following Xander. "Rob?" He tilted his head, seeing the dog wearing a red collar instead of a black one. "What happened to your collar?"

Xander turned around before sitting at his desk, realizing he was being followed by his friend's son. "Oh. That's Luke, Jon." He informed. "He's one of Brian's pups. Well, adults at this point."

"Very young adult, please." Luke finally talked. "It's good to meet you two, Xander and Jon." He waved at the brothers.

"Good to meet you too, Luke." Jon greeted as he got up from the bed and headed out of the room, leaving the Beagle and Retriever alone.

Xander got comfortable at his desk again, resuming his activities. "This is a really nice room you two have." Luke small-talked, standing behind Xander's chair and looking around the room. "Did Dad buy all this for you too?"

The Beagle chuckled a little. "No. That human in the living room did. Is Brian pampering you or something?"

"For sure!" He chirped. "He just gave me all game consoles! And a super computer!"

"*All* game consoles?" Xander asked skeptically.

"The current ones, not every single one of them. But I bet Dad could give me that if he wanted!"

"Hey! You don't get to brag about your father to me, OK?" Xander teased. "He's my best friend. Whatever benefits you get, I can get them too."

"Not comparable at all! Blood is thicker than water." Luke looked at Xander's computer case curiously. "What are your PC specs?"

"Really? We're having that talk? This isn't anything that warrants a forum signature or something. It's an 'R.T.X. Twenty Eighty T.I.', 'I Nine Ninety-nine Hundred K', thirty-two gigabytes of RAM."

"Of course that's worthy of a forum signature! Don't just humble brag like that. My PC has sixty-four gigabytes of RAM." Luke tried to inform without making it look like a boast.

"Nothing uses that much RAM, that's just overkill."

"People were saying that about eight gigabytes a decade or so ago, you know?"

"Were you even born then?"

"Not like it's impossible to know about things that happened before your life."

"Man. I'm talking one-to-one with the result of Brian's 'little favor' from a few years ago, it's kinda surreal."

"He really outdid himself, didn't he?" The Retriever flexed one arm, not being noticed by the Internet-browsing Beagle. "My PC also has a 'Thirty-nine Fifty X', I've heard that Intel processors are terrible at the moment."

"Could we please not bring up the PC-gaming equivalent to a console war right now?"

"Sorry... Sorry if it looks like I came here just to brag about my new dad. Arriving in your room and seeing all these games everywhere made me remember all his gifts."

"It's fine, kiddo. Getting a lot of free stuff given to you just for existing is great, isn't it? If only Jon could learn to appreciate that again." Luke sat on the bed and kept switching between looking at the console collection and Xander, in silence. "What are you and your dad here for?" Xander asked. "It's so weird calling Brian that, by the way." He laughed.

"He wants to hire your brother for something, it's related to his arcade."

"You mean the dog club? Hmm... I see."

Luke got up from the bed and stood by Xander's side, looking at his monitor. Xander tried to hide his annoyance at the sudden breach of privacy. "You can read this?" Luke asked, looking at the Japanese webpage Xander was browsing.

"Yeah. Trying to spend some time on the Japanese Internet once in a while, practicing a little for a possible trip there next year."

"That's cool!" The Retriever beamed. "What does this say?" Luke pointed at one of the paragraphs in the page.

"'Niseko-chō wa fuyu no sukī dakede hanaku, yuki no nai shīzun mo shoshinsha kara jōkyū-sha made yama o tanoshimu koto ga dekiru kankō supottodesu.'" Xander tried to read as naturally as he could.

"And what does that mean?"

"It's saying that the town of Niseko is known not only for winter skiing but also for its mountains."

"Uh-huh. Can you just say something in Japanese to me?"

"Like what?"

"Just anything. Except 'something in Japanese'."

"Don't assume I'm one of those people, Luke." Xander paused for some time. 「My house has a cave hidden inside its kitchen, I don't know how nobody has noticed it.」 He randomly declared in Japanese.

"Hmm. 'Watashi'. That sure does sound like Japanese."

"I hope it does." Xander read a little more in silence before turning his head towards Luke. "Do you wanna play something here?"

"This visit will probably be just a few minutes. I'm not sleeping here or anything."

"Alright... I think two pets is a good upper limit for a house this size."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I was just thinking of me, Jon and you sleeping here. Did you know that he's very recently adopted here?"

"Really? I just know that he's been helping Dad a lot."

"He's helping him because ever since he got adopted he started feeling really guilty about abandoning his old family. I sure hope it's just a phase. It's helping the club, but I really don't like seeing Jon kicking himself like that."

"Why did he abandon them? Abuse?"

"They are planning on moving very far away. Jon didn't want to abandon me and all his friends."

"So he abandoned his guardians instead?"

"We're better guardians than them. Don't even think of bringing this stuff up with him, alright? If another pet tells him he's selfish for switching owners he's going to die."

"OK." The younger dog replied, a little surprised by the strong wording. "I'm not going to judge him."

"Lucky!" Brian called from the living room. "We're done! Let's go before your mom kills me!"

"I'm coming, Dad!" He shouted while heading out of Xander's room. "Are we gonna race home?!"

"No! If Mist finds out I'm speeding with you in the car she'll kill me twice!"

"Aw! You're no fun! Why have that fancy car if you can't even use its speed?!"

"You know what's 'no fun'?! Crashing a car at full-speed! If that happens she'll kill me three times! That's four deaths if the crash also kills me!"

The conversation couldn't be heard by Xander anymore as the two relatives reached the front door and presumably left the residence. Jon soon arrived at his room, with a folder in hands.

"Guess what, bro?" Jon held the files in one paw, displaying them to Xander. The Beagle looked away from the monitor to pay attention to his roommate. "Do you know what this is?"

"Some club stuff, I'd assume." The dog guessed. "Brian is actually making contracts for the club now?"

"This paperwork is actually necessary. I'm gonna start officially working for the club! I'm gonna get my own money!"

Xander remained briefly speechless, eyes wide. "Uuh... Working with what?"

"Check it out." Jon handed the folder to Xander. "It's incredible how fluently that dog can write in legalese, isn't it?" The cat commented as Xander looked over some of the papers, the tabby standing behind him. "I'm gonna start replacing Brian when he's away, and he's planning on working full-time at his office now, so that's gonna be most of the time. I'm basically replacing Brian as leader of the C.P.D.C. and getting paid for it."

"Whaaaa..." Xander dragged out the word while flipping some pages. "Well." He sharply regained his composure, shaking his head a little. "Good luck with that then. We don't even have a single non-dog member and the club's gonna be led by a cat for most of its time now."

Jon grabbed the folder after Xander stopped checking it and stored it somewhere in the dresser. "There's still a lot of training I have to do." He noted while returning to his spot at the bed, going back to his laptop. "But all the basic event planning, attendance recording, catering. The more day-to-day stuff Brian always does, I'll be tasked with doing that."

"Uh-huh... Good luck with that, Jon. I don't even know what to say." The two stayed in silence for a few minutes before Xander decided to talk again. "That's actually a really good thing. Now you can keep helping the club for money, instead of doing it as a way of clearing your conscience."

"Yeah. This is exactly what I needed, now I'm working. I'm an actual pet worker now! Anything I get will be by my own efforts!"

"If starting to get paid makes your help matter so much more to you, then I'm really happy for you."

"What matters is that I'm no longer an unwanted burden to Walt. I can now take care of myself. All the money spent on a new bed, going out, a new computer. All of that will be bought with my own money from now on, not just given to me as if being a pet entitles me to it."

"All of this money is just Brian's, who gets it by charging pets who want a job and to not be registered under a human. You could just ask me to beg Brian for some money and it'd be the same thing."

"That's some terrible mentality, Xander! If we have good things done to us, we must return that in some way, you know?"

"I know you want to, but you're not going to hurt my conscience like you've been hurting your own... I know Walt pampers me a lot, but I'm not going to try to find a way of paying everything back to him in some way. Especially because he does all this just because he really wants my happiness, and feeling guilty for getting his love would undermine all of that."

Jon sighed deeply. "Now I'm feeling guilty for rejecting Walt's presents... 'Best cat you could ever ask for', turns out that was all a lie."

"Oh! Did I finally convince you that you've been too harsh on yourself? Just accept the new computer! It'll make Walt happy! It's exactly how you should repay him after he helped you with getting away from Garfield!"

"Repaying someone by accepting their gifts still sounds a little gross. But you know, bro? If he ever brings up gifting me a new computer again, I'll gladly accept it! I'll make sure he always sees how much I'm enjoying it once I get it too!"

"There you go, kitty! That's how being a pet works! Weird how you just suddenly forgot that."
User avatar
Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Wonderful job on this as always! Please keep it up!
Wortge
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:06 am

Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Sandwich Residence, Thursday 2:02 PM

Grape was playing Peanut's Switch console while lying on the living room sofa, concentrating hard on some kind of action game. Peanut was nearby, drawing on paper sheets while using the dining table as a desk. Many drawing utensils scattered on the table. The doorbell soon rang, Peanut leaving the table to answer the front door while Grape ignored it.

Peanut unlocked and opened the door, soon facing the Beagle he was expecting. "Good day, Xander!" He greeted, smiling. "Glad you could make it!"

"Easy to find the house if you give me the exact coordinates." Xander commented while walking inside, tapping one of Peanut's shoulders briefly. "It's an honor to be invited into the Sandwich maison." He declared while looking around the room, seeing Grape playing and the unorganized dining table.

"Hello, Xan." Grape greeted rapidly.

"Hey." He replied to the cat, barely making eye contact. Xander looked back to Peanut, who was done with the door and walking back to his 'desk'.

Peanut sat down again, looking at Xander and seeing him still stopped, standing in the middle of the room. "I was working on one of my pages while waiting for you." He told the Beagle. "Let me just store everything I was using here in my room and then we'll play something."

"Go ahead, Peanut." Xander approached the side of the sofa opposite to Grape's and leaned on it casually, looking at the other dog.

"Do you wanna check it?" Peanut asked as he started to stack the paper sheets in order to store them.

"Check what?"

"My comics, Grape usually gives me criticism before I show it to other people."

"Those white dog superhero comics? No, thanks."

"Please, Xander!" Peanut suddenly pleaded. "I need more than only one producer! This is the first time I get this chance ever since I moved!"

"A 'producer'?" Xander chuckled. "Well... I guess I could go over it, how long are these comics?"

"Six pages! It's still a work-in-progress."

"Alright." He stopped leaning on the sofa and headed towards the table. "About to get an exclusive sneak peek of Peanut's comics, what an absolute honor." He muttered sarcastically while making his way.

Peanut abandoned the stack of pages as Xander approached, the Beagle unstacking them and putting the pages side-by-side. He started reading the comics with the most neutral face he could muster.

"Alright, uuh..." Xander began. "I'm not going to go over the artwork because, honestly, I have almost no contact with comic book art... But why do the characters only have mouths sometimes?"

"Uh, I draw them when they're exclaiming or shouting. When they talk normally it's hidden under the fur."

"But that's not how- Well, it's not like this art is anything close to photorealism, nevermind... I don't think you should be using parentheses in speech... I gotta say, your handwriting is impeccable. It looks almost digital... You used 'das' here when it should've been 'den'." He pointed at one of the speech bubbles.

"Oh. I'll fix that."

"Uuh... This is an average little satirical superhero comic, some of the jokes were OK." Xander concluded, stacking the pages again and giving them to Peanut. "I'll give it a three out of ten, certainly a step above the other one you've shown me."

"'Three'?!"

"Yeah. Five being an average professional comic book. Don't you think a three's pretty alright?" Xander smiled encouragingly, looking at Peanut.

"Well, if you put it like that." Peanut grabbed all his equipment and headed out to his room.

"You were very close to having a gruesome death there, Xan." Grape teased from the sofa, stopping her gaming session and standing up.

"What do you mean? You shouldn't protect people from constructive negative criticism. Even if it's your brother slash boyfriend."

"You're getting *really* close to it now!" She continued threatening, approaching the dog with a menacing smile.

"You think you can hurt me? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been- Sorry." Xander shook his head. "Been trying to avoid doing random references lately, but sometimes it just slips past me."

"Oh, you're going to love what we're about to do if you like random references." Grape finally reached Xander, dropping her threatening act.

"Uuh... I don't even know what you could possibly be teasing there."

"You're so cute when you 'uuh', Xan." Grape looked deeply into the Beagle's eyes.

Xander almost jumped back. "Grape! What's wrong with you?! Are you just joking so you can 'make me squirm' or do you really want something special with me and Peanut?!"

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno, to *** us both?"

"Augh, Xander!" Grape looked away, covering her face. "There's no reason to be *that* explicit!"

"Oh, *now* you're shying away!" Xander mocked while Grape had her back turned. "How does it feel to be the one being squirmed for once?!"

Peanut came back to the living room while carrying a cardboard box. Grape regained her composure and turned back, both her and Xander looking at the other dog approaching and dropping the box next to them, the two pet-siblings approaching it.

Xander stared at the duo standing next to the box for several seconds. "Are you two just gonna stand next to this box?"

"Can you guess what we're gonna do, Xander?" Peanut asked eagerly.

"Uh, the box says 'paper hats'. Is it origami?"

"You should open it!"

"Alright." Xander approached the box and opened it, judging its contents. "These are paper bags, not hats. Just a bunch of them and a single permanent marker. Are we gonna go recycling?"

"Come on, Xander!" Peanut raised his arms. "Use your imagination!"

"For what? To imagine these bags are something you can actually have fun with?"

"Yes! Write who you want to play as on the bag and wear it on your head!"

"What?!"

"Peanut!" Grape broke her silence to call out. "Xander here has no idea how to play 'Imaginate'! Don't squander our first chance to play this with more than two people ever since we moved by not explaining things!"

"Sorry! I'll explain!"

"No need to, I'll do it." Grape interrupted and approached Xander. "We're gonna play out some type of media, imagining ourselves as the characters. That's 'Imaginate'. Here comes the challenging part: Xander, name some movie, book or game that you remember. Ideally one that you've liked."

"Oh, uh... I don't know if I'm up for role-playing a show, that just sounds really silly."

"It's fun!" Grape exclaimed aggressively, almost hissing. "Stop judging things before even trying them and name some good movie!"

"Uuh... Enter the Void?"

Grape and Peanut looked at each other, shaking their heads. "We don't know that one, try another." Grape replied.

"Synecdoche, New York?"

"What?! Fine. Let's try some video game then, please."

"These aren't even that obscure, do you two only watch superhero flicks?" Xander rolled his eyes.

"Name a game!"

"Ico."

"No! Another one!"

"NieR: Automata?"

"For cod's sake! Have you ever played something mainstream?!"

"These are all mainstream! What do you expect me to say?! 'Undertale'?!"

"Yes! There you go! We remember that game, don't we, Peanut?" The dog nodded.

Xander facepalmed. "We're really going to role-play freaking Undertale?! This is humiliating."

"Stop judging! For at least a few minutes!" Grape scolded, grabbing some bags and the marker from the box. "Nobody on the Internet will know you're doing this. Nobody will know you're having fun with the one game that became cool to hate as soon as it became popular."

"I'll humor you two, don't worry." Xander grabbed a paper bag Grape handed to him. He put the paper bag over his head, rolling his head in an attempt to nonverbally mock the situation.

"You haven't chosen who you're going to play as, Xan." Grape pointed out as the she and Peanut prepared to put on their hats.

"Oh." The Beagle removed his bag. "Hmm... Who's the main character again? 'Frisk'? 'Chara'? What's the difference? I'm not a lore master, I didn't even get all endings."

"You're planning on playing the main character? I thought you were the least interested person in this session."

"If you're forcing me to do something, I might as well go all-in. I've said that before." Xander grabbed the marker and started writing a big 'F/C' on his bag. "There we go, 'FC'. Full combo." He referenced his rhythm game.

Peanut and Grape started writing on several other paper bags, Xander just observing the two. "Let's go, then!" Peanut exclaimed once the two were done, both starting to wear their hats.

Xander sighed. "Here goes nothing." He covered his head with the bag.

The Beagle started exaggeratedly marching across the room. "Oh boy! I sure do love taking random walks on the nearby mountain!" He suddenly fell down. "Oh no! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

"Less Internet meme references, Xander! Please!" Grape complained from the distance.

"How do you even know?" He got up. "Right, uuh... This is the part with like, the corridor. And I think there's a door?"

"Stay in character!"

"I'm a silent protagonist! That'd be dreadfully boring!"

Peanut approached Xander, wearing a bag with a flower drawn on it. "Howdy!" He greeted. "As the very first NPC in this seemingly very mundane indie RPG, would you like a little tutorial on battle mechanics?"

"I'd love one!" Xander played along. "Show me how to survive inside this mysterious underworld."

"You're weak. In order to survive here you need 'L.V.', Love! And I'm gonna help you get some, get ready to catch these pellets!"

"'Pellets'?" Xander was immediately hit by a thrown pillow. "Hey! This isn't meant to get physical, is it?!"

"In this world, it's kill or be killed!" Peanut tried to menacingly loom over Xander.

"I'm sure I've killed an ant at some point! I'm good!" The Beagle nervously backed away from Peanut's voice.

Grape suddenly tackled Peanut away from Xander, wearing a paper bag with a 'T' and two horns drawn on it. "Sorry about that." She got up from the tackle and approached the Beagle, dusting herself off. "This is what I get for not weeding my gardens often. I'm Toriel, do not be afraid, my child. Please follow me to my house, it's just past all these quirky puzzles." Grape started walking towards one of the room corners.

"Gladly!" Xander followed the cat. "It's nice to meet you, Toriel. Have you ever googled your own name on image search? Stuff of nightmares."

"Xander! I mean, Fris-! Char-! Whatever!" She stopped next to the wall. "This is your new home, by the way. You don't have anything to go back to, do you?"

"Of course not. I'm a human kid who was walking by themselves in some isolated mountain, my previous life probably had major issues. What can I do here in your residence?"

"Uuh... You can eat a pie or talk to me until I start repeating my dialogue."

"Pass." Xander walked away from the room corner. "Goodbye, Mom!"

"Not so fast!" Grape ran and blocked Xander off. "You can't go any further." She informed in a very serious tone. "You'll be killed on sight by anyone past my house. You'll have to spend the rest of your life living with me... My child."

"And what are you gonna do if I try to leave anyways? Kill me?"

"Yes." Grape grabbed two pillows and threw them at the guest, Peanut also throwing more from a distance.

"Ah!" Xander was hit by most of the thrown pillows. "I can't see! How are we even supposed to do the 'bullet hell' segments?!"

"Keep dodging, my child!" The two roommates continued throwing pillows at the Beagle.

"Argh! How is this bag even staying on?! I'm not gonna hurt you back, 'Goat Mom'! The Internet would never forgive me for that! Although I did that on my first try because I thought the battle would never end otherwise."

"You did, huh?" The pillow fight immediately ended, Peanut approaching Xander with his flower bag still on. "So you just killed her, regretted it, and then came back to spare her? What makes you think you can just bend the rules like that?"

"Well, it's a game. It has a save feature you can use freely. I only killed her because the game makes you one-hit KO her once her health bar is in the middle. If the game's just going to suddenly bend the rules on the amount of damage my attacks do, then it's only fair that I'm allowed to bend the rules of the narrative by rolling back the plot's progress."

"Well!... You're stupid!"

"You're really bad at pretending to be mean, aren't you Peanut?" Xander broke character.

"Don't tempt him!" Grape warned from a distance.

Xander walked proudly towards the center of the living room. "Alright! I just successfully escaped from the suddenly murderous goat!" He removed his paper hat. "And that's the 'demo' segment done with! Can we play something else now?"

"You're not enjoying this, Xander?" Peanut asked sadly, paper bag still on.

"I am, somehow. Do you two really want to do the whole game?"

"Of course!" Peanut beamed. "We've never done this one before! Thanks for your idea!"

"You two did force me to choose." He shrugged. "Oh well." He put his bag back on. "Let me just walk through the ridiculously ominous woods." Xander started walking from one end of the room to the other, waving his paws in front of him to check for obstacles. "I hope I don't come across any dead memes."

Peanut, now wearing a bag with an 'S' drawn on it, tapped Xander's back. "Hey."

Xander turned around and loudly gasped. "Sa-! I mean, who are you? Clearly antagonistic-looking human skeleton?"

"I'm looking for humans possibly passing by here. Have you seen any?"

"No. It's certainly a good thing we all lack eyesight, isn't it?"

"What do you mean? Could you please just shake my hands? We need a small humorous moment to show the player that the ominous woods and my unsettling appearance are actually contradictory to the game's tone."

"For the whoopee cushion joke? No, thanks. Let's not lower the comedy level here to the point of an American comedy movie."

"That's fine. Let me introduce myself: I'm Sans. I'll be following you around in order to provide you comic relief until you reach a populated area."

"Sans?! Sans quoi?!" Xander asked exaggeratedly in French.

"What?"

«Do you know how much I miss speaking in French?» The Beagle continued in French. «Gaspar's never in the club anymore, and he lives in one of the ends of Whitestone. Good thing I can just keep rambling like this and you won't notice I'm breaking character.»

"Uhh... Bonsoir." Peanut attempted.

"Bonjour." He corrected. "It's not night yet. Let's keep going, sorry about that. Sorry about cette situation." Xander started walking slowly across the room, Peanut following.

Grape, now wearing a 'P' paper hat, approached Peanut. Prompting both him and Xander to stop. "Sans! My dear brother!" She greeted loudly. "Have you found any huuuuumans?" She dragged out.

"No, I haven't." Peanut answered with no emotion. "Keep looking around cluelessly, it's very comical."

She stopped in front of Xander, looking at him. "Huuuman!" Grape yelled.

"Huuuuman!" Xander yelled back.

"Huuuuuuman!"

"Hominid!"

"I've found the human, Sans!" Grape excitedly told Peanut. "It's the culmination of my life!"

"This is all so stupid." Xander laughed, attempting to wipe his forehead but touching the bag instead, making a loud crunching sound. "Could you just 'kill me on sight immediately' already?"

"No! We must never be antagonistic in any way! Otherwise you'll be discouraged from sparing everyone and getting the amazing super ending!"

Peanut started walking again, indicating for the others to follow him. "Let's go to Snowdin Town, guys. It's a perfectly linear walk from here."

"Sure!" Grape accepted. "Pretend I'm giving you funny puzzles and talking about spaghetti, ambiguously-named main character!" She directed to Xander.

"Why is there snow here?" The Beagle asked. "Isn't this place underground?"

"Uh..." Peanut tried to answer. "It's the... Water getting too cold from the..."

Grape suddenly tackled Xander, now wearing a bag with a "U" and an eyepatch drawn on it. "Silence!" She yelled while pinning him. "I hate humans! Especially pedantic ones!"

"Ah! I didn't come to this house for such rough play!" Xander complained angrily from under Grape. "Attacking you would be clearly self-defense and not morally wrong in any way, so here I go!" The visiting dog thrust himself against Grape, managing to bite one of her arms. He kicked her out of her pinning position as the pain and shock from the sudden bite made her lose strength, him quickly getting up and hurrying away from her.

"Cod! Xander!" Grape broke character to complain, holding her bitten arm. "No need to get that much into it! If you want to role-play an attack just tap me or something!"

"The worst violence I've ever faced in my whole life is stubbing a foot! How do you expect me to react to someone suddenly making me fall and then holding my body like that?!"

"Well, you just brutally murdered Undyne! There's no chance of you getting the eternal friendship and rainbows ending now!"

"I'm fine with that. Better her than me." He dusted himself off and approached the two pet-siblings again. "Can we have a small break? What's there even left to do? There's the water place with the funny ghost, the fire place with the funny lizard, umm... If you two try to do Temmie Village I'll never forgive you."

"That's too stupid even for me, don't worry." She removed the bag from her head, the other two also doing so once noticing. Xander approached Grape with concern, the cat still looking at her arm, massaging the bitten area.

He looked at Grape's arm while Peanut tried to resist instinctively protecting Grape from her former assailant. "I'm so sorry about that." The Beagle apologized, suppressing some whimpering. "I didn't draw blood or anything, did I? You know, this is the first time these canines here have been used for what they were made for. It's hard to hold them back."

Grape playfully patted Xander's back. "It's fine! It's just a little inflamed. You're giving your fighting skills way too much credit, I've faced literal gods of death, you know?"

"I know, I know." He presumably played along, sitting on the living room sofa along with Grape. "You live in a completely civilized world for your entire life, but after a few seconds of apparent danger, you just revert back to a cornered animal desperate to just hurt the closest living being to it. It's crazy, I've never experienced that."

"Don't worry about it, Xan. You're not used to games like this. I even hesitated before jumping, since I've never seen you getting physical like that." Grape assured. Meanwhile, Peanut recovered from a small flare of rage triggered by seeing his pet-sister getting hurt by someone. Also joining the two on the sofa without anyone noticing his controlled outburst.

"Still mostly my fault, that wasn't warranted from just a gentle tackle. What a terrible end to your little game idea, so sorry about that." Xander covered his face with both palms.

"Stop that, Xander! It was nothing!" The cat exclaimed while embracing both dogs on the sofa. "And we'll be continuing that. Wasn't this just a break?" She asked while petting both Peanut and Xander's heads.

"Uh, yeah." The Beagle tried to disguise being distracted by the petting. "Can we do something else for the break? Maybe even the TV?"

"I'll show you my Animal Crossing town!" Peanut chirped, running to grab his portable console.

"Oh, alright." Xander agreed neutrally. Making an effort to avoid voicing his negative opinions on spectating someone playing the slow-paced life simulation video game.

The two waited in silence, Grape subconsciously continuing her petting.

"You're purring there." Xander informed stoically.

"Huh?"

"You're petting me, almost hugging me, and you're loving it. Look. I'll let this slide because I need to make up for the fact I almost accidentally gave you an infection earlier. But keep in mind that while you're clearly in love with me, I have no romantic attachment to you, and if you ever declare your love to me I'll bluntly reject it. I really don't want to hurt you physically *and* emotionally."

Grape rapidly scooted away from Xander, blushing wildly. "Xander! It's just some petting!"

"Really?! As soon as I call you out you're gonna dismiss it like that?! Meanwhile I can't even play some games with cats without being called a big cat lover. Come here!" Xander scooted close to Grape again, the dog now putting his arm around and petting her. "You clearly want my puppies, don't you?" He teased while touching his side against Grape and leaning his head on her shoulder. "My little dog-cat hybrid kippies. You're just loving making some contact with the irresistible Xander here, aren't you?" He sarcastically tried to give a seductive smile.

Grape gradually moved away from Xander's petting, him noticing it and stopping. "I'm sorry for the unwarranted advances." She apologized. "I'm losing control lately. You see... Back in my old home I cuddled a lot with Max, my boyfriend, as well as..."

"Peanut?" Xander completed. "That's far from a secret, you know? At least for anyone who's seen you two watching a movie together."

She blushed slightly. "Right, whatever... Thing is. I only have Peanut now, and my brain's just desperately trying to find someone to replace Max with. You're ending up as a victim, and I should admit that instead of just trying to justify it as me teasing you for your cat friends, sorry."

"Don't worry about it! It's fine! Knowing that all those advances are just you trying to replace your distant boyfriend and not you trying to have three lovers makes me relieved, actually... I bet pinning me down like that on the floor triggered some memories, didn't it?" Xander smirked.

"No! Stop!" She blushed.

Peanut arrived with his console in hands, sitting next to Xander. "Sorry for taking so long, I had to wait for an update."

"It happens." Xander shrugged. "Welcome to the era of non-physical copies." He looked at the console's screen, it displaying a cartoony 3D model of a brown-furred dog wearing a purple top hat being controlled by Peanut. The avatar ran against the main door of a small house and entered it.

The console now displayed a square room, some furniture making it look like a very ordinary living room. "This is my house." Peanut began commentating. "I tried to model it after my previous house, the one I left to move here."

"Aw. That's cute." Xander analyzed the room, trying to pretend to be interested out of cordiality. "Can you interact with anything?"

"A few things." Peanut played a record on the game's virtual stereo system, waiting as it played.

"Hmm... Sounds very 'video game'."

"Is it your type of music?"

"Not really. I'm mostly into glitch, ambient techno and breakcore."

"And this isn't any of that?"

"No... This sounds like some type of rock music. I don't know enough to guess a genre, don't really care for most of that stuff."

"Alrighty. I can also use the TV, but I'll head outside and show you my town."

"Go ahead... Is it modelled after your old town?"

"No. Because River Ridge isn't an island." Peanut's avatar left the house and started running along some footpaths, going over small arch bridges spanning over water and passing by other small houses, random objects and many trees.

"Heh, plenty of rivers. Some tiny ridges too." Xander commented after some silence.

The in-game avatar arrived at a large field of trees, proceeding to shake each tree one at a time, items sometimes falling off of them.

Xander accidentally let out a yawn. "What are the branches for?" He immediately disguised the yawn by asking.

"They're for crafting."

"Ugh. I mean, hmm... That reminds me of another game. Another game that's definitely not associated with immature children and terrible 'let's players' saturating YouTube."

Peanut made it to a populated part of the game map, some animals and anthropomorphic versions of birds walking around.

"Finally. Finally time to cross some animals." Xander joked.

"Do you play Animal Crossing?" Peanut attempted to start a conversation.

"Never touched it. I've heard it's more exciting to play than to watch." Xander desperately tried to not finish the sentence with a snarky comment. "... Which is a pretty low bar to top." He failed.

"Any other Switch games? You have one, don't you?"

"I do. I've played the latest 3D Mario game, it's quite good... Nothing else... What else does it even have? Zelda and Pokémon? I'll pass on that."

"They're good games, you should try them."

"I was thinking of emulating Breath of the Wild a few months ago, actually." Xander paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "But I'm not touching Pokémon." He began. "Aren't the latest games hot garbage anyways? They just keep removing every single feature that they previously added in the previous games, you know? 'Walking Pokémon'? Gone! Their existence is now restricted to being stuck inside some kind of stasis ball for ninety-nine percent of their lives. And the game always tries to justify that, saying that all the Pokémon actually really love being forced to either fight or not physically exist. You keep talking to the NPCs and they're always going like: 'I love Pokémon! They sure do love to battle, don't they? Just getting horribly hurt and having literal lava splashed in their faces all the time! The entire world is solely dedicated to this sport, by the way!' And it's just this horrible theme-park-looking world where everyone's obsessed with normalized pet-fighting. This is why only the Mystery Dungeon games in that franchise are worth anything, although barely. At least they actually spend more than five seconds working on a plot for the games instead of just going over a checklist of having the main character be a kid who's never tried the sport before, visiting cities that consist of four buildings, defeating a 'villain team' that thinks the only way to fight a random kid is to throw wildlife at them, and then easily winning against the region's top veterans because despite their years of experience, all their Pokémon are only level sixty, which is a level you take about five hours to reach." Xander ranted while Peanut played and listened. "The games have absolutely no content after the plot ends." He continued after breathing in, starting to wag as he expressed all his thoughts to someone. "You can only fight each trainer once, so if you ever want to experience a trainer battle again after going over the entire map you gotta actually go online. And let's not even get into that, because the game's meta is an unbalanced mess that results in only five percent of the roster being borderline usable. The entire franchise is based on a basic, soulless, extremely easy RPG that survives entirely on the fact that it boomed in popularity by chance in the late nineties. It's pathetic." Xander stopped his rant to pay attention to Peanut's gameplay, seeing him idly fishing and immediately starting the rant again. "Like, the attack animations are just a Pokémon jumping and then a special effect playing over the other Pokémon! There is *no* other big-name RPG with this little effort put into it! And the fanbase was always somehow OK with that! They just keep making games that are virtually the same apart from some small gimmicks, gimmicks that just get removed in the very next game anyways. And the fanbase only reacts when they start literally removing the Pokémon themselves! Like, Really?! You've been playing the same thing for decades and only now you notice it has absolutely no ambition? Maybe if you spent more time actually playing the game instead of drawing horrifying fan art of the characters getting inflated into balls and being eaten alive you'd notice you've been supporting a stagnant cash grab! Don't you agree, Peanut?" He finally stopped and waited for an answer.

"Uh, yeah." The other dog answered without thinking. "You really care about that game, don't you?"

"I'm pretty much forced to, it's literally the biggest media franchise in existence."

"I liked all of the Pokémon games I've played. Is that bad?"

"'Bad'?" Xander chuckled. "If you liked them that's fine, Peanut. Don't worry about it." He patted Peanut's back encouragingly. "I can't like them, if you're able to though, then more power to you. I don't really care about people still supporting Pokémon because despite how big it is, it has minimal influence on the industry. Anything that tries to emulate Pokémon just gets called a 'rip-off' and dismissed. I don't think a good 'creature-collecting' game would be my cup of tea anyways."

Peanut continued playing his game silently. "Sorry if I'm boring you." He began. "Grape fell asleep accidentally and I'm not supposed to wake her."

Xander glanced at Grape, seeing her peacefully resting on the sofa. "Oh, it's alright. I'd expect this game to have that eff- I mean, why is your villager wearing a top hat?" He rapidly disguised another snide comment.

"It's a reference to a LARP I played with Grape years ago. I wore a top hat and was a 'puzzle master'."

"That's cool. Was it something like the paper bag stuff we did here but with an original story?"

"Pretty much... It was a great day."

"You play in the club a lot, do you want to do something similar to that there? I remember you suggested something like that before but worded it pretty badly."

"It could be fun... We used magic(k) for that, though... And a big temple."

"Oh. It was something professional then? Nevermind then... Jon's starting to gradually replace Brian in running the club, you know? His event ideas are a lot more dynamic than Brian's, he doesn't play it safe like Brian does."

"Could we have a club-wide 'Imaginate!' there?"

"Probably. Maybe with proper costumes even."

"That'd be really cool! I should suggest it!"

"Go ahead, you have my blessing. Rob and Brian are a bit dismissive of role-playing, because, you know, their lives are just so much more interesting already when compared to mine, why bother pretend to be someone else?" He rolled his eyes. "Suggest that during one of Jon's shifts without Rob being present, he'll probably welcome the idea."

"I'll try that, then. Would you participate in that event?"

"Sure. Especially considering it'd be less 'bootleg' than what we had here today... Hopefully we can avoid the violence we saw today. The LARP you played with Grape didn't have any harmful acting in it, did it?"

"Uhh... Nope! Completely safe!" Peanut smiled nervously.

I feel a bit guilty writing something that can only be fully enjoyed if you've played through an unrelated work, but then remember Rick's been doing that to me for 3 months.

All in all, a bit of filler. Just some interactions with Grape and Peanut after remembering they exist.
Last edited by Wortge on Mon Jul 06, 2020 8:28 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I love the way these interactions were handled! Really wonderful job!
Wortge
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:06 am

Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Harlow Residence, Monday 5:08 PM

Rob routinely closed the front doors of his tower block after leaving it, walking along the sidewalk until he reached the nearest crosswalk. He waited for the stoplight and then crossed the avenue facing his residence.

"Why the howl am I even doing this?" Rob thought to himself while crossing the road, the playground area on the avenue's other side getting closer and closer to him. He walked past an area with playground equipments and sat down on a bench facing two basketball courts. A match was being played in the court closest to his bench by a group of mostly dogs, some cats and a single rabbit.

Rob quickly looked around him, checking the activity around the playground area. Some young pets played with the playground equipment behind his bench. Rob tried to look for a single human within the area, failing to find one. He started watching the game after judging the architecture of the brown tower blocks surrounding the playground briefly, trying to not drag any attention to himself due to him being the only spectator to the other pets' game. All of them seemed too concentrated on the game to pay the Retriever any mind or even notice him. Rob relaxed after a few minutes on the bench of the unfamiliar park, him starting to almost lounge while observing the game casually.

"I guess the random barks I sometimes hear from my room are probably coming from here." Rob thought to himself, still watching the game.

"Are these full teams? How many players does a basketball game have?"

"I'm gonna check that right now, actually." Rob grabbed his smartphone from his collar. "No better way to blend in as just some local pet than boredly checking your phone."

"Five per side." He read from an article. "And playing there you have..." He counted the players in the court. "Nine. Oh no. I hope they don't look at me and decide to draft me."

Rob shyly looked away from the court, pretending to be interested in something else. "I need some plans. Uh, let's see... If anyone asks, I'm here waiting for a friend to arrive... That friend being someone who lives in one of these towers... No, no! Lying about knowing a local resident is a quick way to get into some very unnecessary trouble!"

"I'm here, uh... Waiting for my owner?"

"But why would he make me wait in this playground? He'd be busy doing something around here. The shops are on the other side of the avenue and I can't say he's visiting someone in the towers, that's just the first lie with extra steps."

"Uhh... I'm waiting for a download to fini- What even is this excuse?! It's 2020! I can probably download my entire hard drive in ten minutes!"

"Also that'd imply I'm a resident here, even worse than lying about knowing someone."

"I'm just checking the playground out, enjoying watching all the people having fun... Wait, that's not even a lie. Let's go with that then. I'm just watching, not playing, you can't watch a game that you're playing too."

"Some people like playing, some people like watching, right? Actually very different things."

"I know Xander loves watching people broadcasting themselves playing video games... I'd expect him to naturally mock that concept, but sometimes people just surprise you like that."

A sudden bark-like shout coming from the court immediately startled Rob, him turning his head to look back to the game. A Rottweiler player was running away from the game in his direction, looking angrily at a teenage boy who was about to enter the court, with a basketball in hands, passing right next to Rob's bench when the Rottweiler shouted.

"Get off the court!" The big, muscular dog shooed the human as he reached him. Rob scooting away to the other side of the bench to get farther from the altercation.

"I have every right to be here!" The boy argued. "Playgrounds are open to everyone again!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" The other pet players all glared at the human as if on command. "You're not gonna use this park and give us all your horrible human diseases! Out!" The Rottweiler growled, edging closer.

"The *** do you mean, mutt?! We can't transmit *** to you! Just let me use the other court! I'm not here to join your game!"

"Get out! You don't even have a mask on! I'm sacrificing myself already for the team by having you spit all over my fur!"

"None of you have the rights to tell me what to do! We humans run this ***! I'm calling the cops!" The boy started walking away.

"Go ahead! The K-9s will love running you apes off again! Stay home and die alone instead of trying to kill everyone who's outside too!"

Rob looked at the interaction with veiled disgust. "What an ugly side of society right there." He commented to himself in his own head. "Humans built everything for us, including our own species, and this is what dogs do to them at the first sign of having an advantage." Rob continued thinking, looking at the Rottweiler observing the boy walking away towards the avenue. "Keep this up and we'll have some kind of human revolt against pets, which would be just disastrous."

"Hey! New dog!" The Rottweiler called for Rob's attention. "What are you alone here for? Wanna join us?"

"Uh." Rob stopped daydreaming to look at the other dog's eyes directly, trying to pretend he wasn't surprised by the Rottweiler suddenly talking to him. "I..." He smiled nervously. "***, what was my excuse again?" He muttered.

"What?"

"I'm here to just watch the game, I'm not good at basketball, don't mind me." Rob excused, smiling and trying a very friendly tone.

"No better way to learn than joining a game, right?" The muscular dog sat down right next to Rob. "What do you say? Are you new here?"

"Sports have never been my thing, sorry. I'm not new, just never stopped by this park before."

"A shy one, huh? Don't be afraid, pup." The other dog encouraged, rubbing Rob's head playfully. "Where are you from?"

"That tower across the avenue." Rob tried to point to his tower, which was mostly hidden by trees.

"Oh, Lauren's building?"

"No, that's not its name."

"I mean, you live in the same tower as Lauren. Do you know her?"

"No. I don't know any of my neighbors."

"Really? What's your name? Even if you hide inside your home all the time we might still at least know your routine."

"That's... That's kind of a breach of privacy, you know? And you just admit that?"

"Who cares, pup?" He rubbed the Retriever's head again. "We all live in apartments, right? Each tower is like a small town, everyone knows each other."

"Ugh, so much for escaping from the 'small town feel'." Rob muttered to himself. "My name's Rob, by the way."

"Rob!" The Rottweiler patted the back of Rob's head. "Of course Lauren knows you! And by extension, I do. You're the cute Golden Retriever who moved in last year!"

"'Cute'?!" Rob exclaimed, laughing.

"Her words! You're quite a heartthrob, you know?"

"Oh, please no! I don't want to be chained to anyone else aside from my owner."

"'Owner'? You always leave the building alone and get on the Subway, everyone assumes you're a self-owned pet worker."

"Really? No, that's not my life. I'm just a companion dog given away to a kid."

"And where's that kid? Why are you always alone?"

"I'm a complete stranger, dude! I've known you for seconds! Why is this talk getting so personal?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." The dog apologized. Removing one of his arms from behind Rob, which he was using to occasionally pet the slightly smaller dog. "I'm getting way too comfortable here, I agree."

"No problem, dog... Sorry for rejecting you like that. This is our first time talking, we should be talking about our names and our likes, not talking about how you have a friend spying on me."

The Rottweiler laughed. "All fine, Rob! Let's get started on the right foot then! It's a pleasure to talk to you, Rob. My name's Traralgon."

"Traralgon, Australia?" Rob tilted his head.

"Huh?"

"There's a town there with that name. Are your owners Australian?"

"No way! The Australians probably named that town after my might." He flexed both arms, Rob assuming the boast was sarcastic. "I'm Harlem for life! Where did you move from?"

"Ugh. You know? I hate not being able to pass off as a local. I moved from College Point. It's close to Flushing, Queens."

"Queens, huh? Are you enjoying the big city?"

"Queens is still New York City, you know? And most of it is very urban. I'm enjoying my easier access to public transport here, if anything."

"Well, everyone in the world has heard of Harlem. Can't say the same about whatever hole 'College Point' is, right?"

"Hahaha! I can't believe I'm being the victim of elitism for once!" Rob laughed playfully. "I'm from here now, OK? 'Harlem for life!' We're not even renting, we own our apartment."

"Oh, so you'll just openly admit you're gentrifying our hood like that?"

"All we did was buy a condo. Whoever was selling it is to blame. Of course someone from outside would buy it."

"I'll let that slide, you don't seem like some typical bridge-and-tunnel yuppie. Are you gonna join our game now to complete your assimilation here? Basketball's fun!"

"I find bouncing the ball super fun! But I really don't want to hold a team back and ruin your fun. They're going on without you there, have you noticed?"

"My team had an extra player. The other team let that rabbit join us, thinking she wouldn't amount to anything, terrible mistake."

"Haha! Really?" Rob started dividing his attention between the chatting Rottweiler and the ongoing game. "Rabbits are known for being fast and agile, why would they assume she'd be a bad player?"

"Due to size, maybe? You know how speciesist we cats and dogs can be towards the other pet species not in the 'big two'."

"Heh. Right." Rob pondered continuing the conversation on that topic. "You know. That human from before. You should've allowed him to use the other court. I don't think he actually called the police, but humans are currently not forbidden from gathering inside playgrounds anymore. That virus doesn't even have symptoms for dogs, you're not at risk."

"That was just an easy excuse to use. Those ape morons almost made NYPD close this playground for everyone because they kept insisting on playing games here. We're not taking that risk again, maybe once they have their mythical vaccine."

"Oh well... You'll still run into trouble if you keep running them off like that, it's blatant speciesism."

"'Speciesism'? You can't be speciesist to humans! It's punching up!"

"Oh, for dog's sake. Are you going to claim that it has to be 'systemic' to be speciesism? Because I'm pretty sure what's happening this year counts as that."

"Humans are doing all that *** to save their own hides. It's not some kind of affirmative action after oppressing non-humans for millennia."

"Don't you depend on a human? We might be all subjects to them but we mostly have our entire lives taken care of as a result of that, it's a very good trade-off. I can't imagine having to spend hours every day being forced to do something and then only doing what I want to do in the evening."

"It's not bad at all! My mom's now working, getting her own money and transferred her ownership to the P.I.S! They make finding a good job so easy! And now we can treat our old human owner at home as an equal, not as someone who has us at his mercy."

"Alright. That advertisement was uncalled for. That's your mom though, now you're just depending on a dog instead of a human, you still live with no worries."

"You wish! I'm studying hard to become a train operator! The P.I.S. also provides incredible professional certification opportunities!"

"Tone down the advertising! Jeez! My best friend literally runs the P.I.S. and he never brags about it like that!"

"What?!"

"Oh ***. Can you just comically pretend I didn't blurt that out?"

"Who's your 'best friend'?"

"Uh, he's Brian. One of my best friends, not the only one. Pretty cool dude."

"'Brian'? Never heard of him."

"He's not exactly a public figure. At least not when it comes to his professional work."

"Are you just trying to impress me with lies?"

"No! Come on now! Why would I lie about knowing someone who runs a company I don't even use?! Do you want me to prove he runs the thing? You'd be setting yourself up for humiliation, but I'd love it." The Retriever smirked.

"I'll just ignore that. Who's your owner then? Who owns your life?" Traralgon sneered, changing the topic.

"Uh, Shane." Rob answered quickly, hoping to get the big dog's curiosity over with.

"That new white guy with the Facebook full of vacation pictures? You really are here to gentrify things, aren't you? If the King Towers get demolished to make way for some luxury condos I'm forcing you two to take me in!" Rob hoped the Rottweiler was just teasing.

"That's just creepy! You're not supposed to know that much about complete strangers! At least pretend you don't spy on us out of courtesy!"

"How are you even his dog? We've never seen you two together."

"Then you should invest more on your spy network. I go out with him occasionally, not never. It's just rarer this year because of all the restrictions on humans."

"Go out to where?"

"To the rest of the city. Restaurants, parks, places that are just interesting to look at or be in."

"That's where you're going to when you ride the Subway by yourself?"

"Yeah. I usually go to places with Shane only by car."

"You seem pretty independent then. Always leaving by yourself and having some fun alone around the city. Ever thought of working a small job and using that money to do even more stuff and sever Shane's ownership over you?"

"No! I'd never abandon Shane!"

"It's not abandoning, you think everyone in the P.I.S. can afford rent? Most pets use it to get in on the country's top pet recruiter. Having your ownership transferred to someone who can't just terminate your job on a whim is just a bonus."

"I trust Shane utterly! He's given me the best life I could ever ask for! Even if I wanted to have an easier time finding a job by signing up for the P.I.S., I'd ask them to keep me as his dependent."

"Aw, that's cute. It's fine, pup." Traralgon got back to petting Rob's head. "I don't think that's an option though, because the service needs to be your legal owner to be able to deal with all your paperwork efficiently. There goes your weird lie about knowing the owner, by the way. But it's alright! Nothing wrong with making up some small 'fun facts' about yourself to try to make yourself look more interesting to a stranger, I'm guilty of doing that myself too."

"You're playing with fire here, Traralgon. You really are!" Rob playfully bared his teeth. "I'm gonna do it. I was already itching to do this and now you've pushed me." Rob fished his phone from his collar and dialed a number, maxing out the phone's volume and holding it in front of his face. Traralgon just observed, curious.

"Rob? Why are you calling my work phone?" Brian's voice came from the device.

"Because I'm dealing with your work for the first time in my life right now. Can y-"

"What?!" Brian interrupted. "Are you emancipating from Shane?! Why?! Did something happen?!" Brian questioned rapidly, extremely concerned.

"No!" Rob yelled. "I just need you to clarify a few things about the P.I.S.; You see, an acquaintance of mine has some questions about it. And what better way to answer them than with the CEO of the whole thing?"

"Alright. I mostly deal with managerial decisions though, not the service's operations themselves." The Rottweiler furrowed his brows upon noticing Rob's contact reacting naturally to his assumption of him being the organization's CEO. "A secretary would do a way better job at this than me."

"Oh. I need you to find some information later that no secretary would have access to." Rob smirked at his acquaintance. "Just for some, um, 'humiliation' purposes."

"What? Oh, Rob. What are you even up to? Just get to the point then."

"Quick question. Do you need to necessarily transfer your ownership to the service to be a part of the service's job recruitment system?"

"Yes. Because we need your ownership papers in order to agilize the processes. You're of course free to keep living with your old owner, nobody can stop that. It just means that now you're registered as the service's dependent, which means we can control your employment and legal work as you wish us to."

"Right. I guess I was wrong there. Let's go with phase two of this phone call now. Can you look over a client's files for me?"

"I... I don't think so, Rob. That's unethical. Client confidentiality is a thing, you know? You could have someone pointing a gun to your head right now just in order to get some confidential information on their victim via me."

"And if that were the case you'd refuse to reveal it? You'd sacrifice my life to maintain your professionalism?!" Rob suddenly shouted incredulously.

"No! Oh dog! That's not what's happening, is it?!"

"No! Don't worry about it! Look, it's only me listening to this, alright? Do you want me to turn the camera on for proof?"

"Please do that."

"Alright." Rob pressed a button on the phone's touchscreen. "Here I am! Sitting by myself at some playground!"

"Oh. Just seeing your happy face after that scare is so relieving... Fine, what client do you need info on?"

Rob turned the call's camera off. "Uh, look up 'Traralgon'. Male Rottweiler, T.R.A.R.A."

"Only one 'Traralgon' here. Go ahead."

"Uuh... Give me his full name, birthday and mother's name, her profession. His ZIP Code. And that should be enough."

"I'm getting so fired if this call ever surfaces." Brian sighed. "Traralgon Clayton. June ninth, two thousand and six. Alicia Clayton. She's also under the P.I.S., working as a gardener, hired by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Traralgon's ZIP Code is registered as one double-oh twenty-six, same as his mother and their former human owner."

"Alright." Rob turned to the other dog, who was just facepalming in shame. "Two thousand and six?!" He mocked. "And you dare call me a 'pup'?! If your birth year starts with a two you might as well be a fetus!"

"Shut up! I call you 'pup' because you're tiny compared to me. What's so great about getting to die before I do anyways?"

"Jeez. Harsh. Do you believe my best bud runs your precious 'Independence Service' now? How are my spying skills compared to yours?"

"Traralgon?" Brian's voice still came from Rob's phone. "Are you with Rob?"

"Yes." The Rottweiler answered, leaning on the phone being held by Rob. "It seems your buddy gets very offended by being wrongfully accused of lying, sorry."

"Do I have permission to divulge your personal information to Rob?" Brian immediately asked formally.

"Yes, go ahead. I'm not gonna get you in trouble out of bitterness. I'd ruin my job opportunities by doing that too, probably."

"Good! Hope you're enjoying your classes!"

"I am! Uh... Thanks for helping us pets, your services are invaluable."

"Thank you. So is you and your mother's participation. Bye!" The call ended.

Rob stored his phone back in his collar. "Hehe." He chuckled quietly. "That was so unnecessarily petty, sorry. Couldn't resist it, just couldn't."

"So you're best friends with the owner of the region's main job recruiter but you don't even work?"

"Nope! Neither do any of his friends, I believe. He didn't become my friend because of his company, you know? That thing's barely one year old, believe it or not."

"Alright." Traralgon gave a final pat to the back of Rob's head, standing up. "You're an interesting fellow, Rob. I'm going back to the game. You don't wanna join and I won't insist, don't worry. Can I hope to see you around here from now on? I guess I'm many months late but, welcome to Harlem!"

"Uh, sure. I'll hang around here some other days." Rob also stood up.

Harlow Residence, Monday 6:04 PM

"I'm never going back to that ***ing park again." Rob thought to himself as he was locking the door to his condo once he got inside. "Bunch of misanthrope ***heads, I'm not gonna become a slave to human capitalism just so I can stop being a slave to a human being." He looked at Shane sleeping while sitting on the living room sofa, the TV playing to no one in particular. "Especially when that being is this treasure right here." He sat down next to Shane and hugged him tightly, pressing his head against Shane's in an effort to wake him up.

"Rob?" Shane quietly asked while waking up, starting to drag his hand from the top of Rob's head to his back continuously as petting. "Didn't mean to fall asleep here. Was just checking the news for a few minutes."

Rob continued his tight hug, moving his head from close to Shane's head to his chest. "Can't blame you for that." He talked to his owner quietly, his voice showing some kind of serene happiness. "The news have been stuck reporting on the same Chinese virus over and over since the start of the year. It's like a Groundhog Day for them, haven't they noticed it?"

"It's what affects us all, Rob. These are unprecedented ti-"

"No!" Rob yapped quietly from the hug.

"Right, right. Sorry... Are you still enjoying finding all the places you can go to while humans can't?"

"I've now experienced every single major attraction in the city with crowding and with no crowding. I've had enough, the humans can come back."

"And we all wish it were that simple... What's with the sudden show of affection, by the way?"

"I... I love you, Shane. I just can't believe how much I owe you." Rob desperately resisted instinctively licking Shane's skin. "Just everything. Living here. All the travels. Your allowance. I'm so sorry for acting so entitled sometimes."

"I don't mind that at all. You're completely melting my heart right now, this makes it all worth it."

"I'm sick of going out without you, believe it or not... I can't take it. I just want to..." Rob began sniffling. "I want to go out with you so much!" The dog buried his face on Shane's shirt to hide his tears, staining it. "I miss everything we used to do together! Going out around New York! Having small road trips! Why must we wait so much?! Aren't you immune already?!" Rob started visibly crying.

"Rob, no!" He hugged the dog back, dragging his hands across his back rapidly as some form of petting. "Now you're vaporizing my heart. Everything will be fine. You still have me here at home, you know? Do you forget that?"

"Yes, I do! I'm terrible! I've been stuck in my little room for all my time here!... I'm so glad you're with me, Shane!" Rob tried to imitate Shane's motions, also petting the human's back. "And I'm so glad to finally remember to show you how grateful I am!" The two toned down their shows of affection, Rob returning to his original one-sided hug. "You're the best human I could ever ask for! I know every dog probably says this, but I honestly mean it. You're a ten out of ten, and that's in Xander's scale, literal perfection."

"Haha. I don't know what that means."

"I can't live without you. I just had to show you at some point how much I appreciate you, and I guess today's the day... Xander treats his owner as an ornament that brings him food, Brian treats his owner as his boss. I just want to treat you as the best thing that's happened to my life... I'm a dog, darn it! What was it again? 'Unconditional love' or something?"

"This love is definitely conditional though. You're making me so happy just by showing me how much you appreciate everything, thank you for this... It helps me keep going on during these times."

"Don't make me cry again!" Rob jokingly complained angrily, finishing with his voice faltering. He continued hugging Shane, some sudden chest movements indicating hidden sobbing coming from the dog.

"What even happened today, Rob? This is cute and all but now it's getting concerning."

The Retriever waited some moments to control his emotions. "Nothing serious... Some guy assumed I didn't have an owner because of how I always go out by myself, it made me realize just how lonely I've been lately." Rob let go of the hug, sitting by Shane's side and leaning his body on him.

"Aren't your dog friends back in Queens doing fine? Didn't you visit your parents a few days ago?"

"Everything's great. The problem is with you, the human in my life. You've been stuck at either home or work for quite some time, are you handling it well?"

"I am. Don't you dare worry about me, that's *my* job."

"Can I prohibit you from worrying about me then?"

"You wish, mutt." Shane put an arm over Rob's other side. "We can go out again, it'll just be really incovenient for you. Everything has attendance limits for humans now. You'd have to wait on line with me for dozens of minutes, watching all the pets getting in as if they have some kind of birthright FastPass."

"About time I get a taste of the other side, you know? After months of proudly marching past those lines, imagining how all the apes are jealous of me and my less incovenient life."

"If you're up to it, we can do something this Wednesday then."

"I'd love to!" The Retriever hugged Shane again briefly. "How about Downtown Brooklyn?"

"Ugh. 'Midtown', 'Downtown', why is it always 'town' with you? I was thinking of Dongan Hills."

"Uh..."

"Yeah?"

"That's... Hmm..."

Shane teasingly patted his dog multiple times. "Just admit it! You don't know where that is, do you? Swallow your pride!"

"Where is that?!" Rob asked incredulously.

"Staten Island! Very close to the Verrazzano."

"What did you find there?"

"No idea! But by going to a place off the beaten path like that we might have to wait ten minutes instead of two hours."

"Oh no. Is that what living as a human right now is like? I've been taking for granted already the fact that I can just walk up to any restaurant and not have to worry about reservations or wait times. Just my money in hand. You have to almost leave the city to not have a terrible experience now?"

"Haha! Wanna give up on this already? Suddenly going out with the 'best thing that's happened to your life' doesn't seem so appealing, does it?"

"I'll do it! Waiting can be fun too! Although I'd rather wait in Manhattan than in Staten Island."

"We could go out this Wednesday and we could also... You know...?"

"What?!" Rob barked in anticipation.

"Spontaneous trip!" Shane raised his arms.

"Yes!" Rob cheered fervently.

"This Friday my shift ends at 2 PM. I'm gonna go home, get prepared, grab you and head out."

"To where?! Was it my turn to decide?!" Rob continued wagging happily.

"Syracuse!"

"Yes! Are you serious?! We're going to Sicily again?! That's awesome!"

Shane had a quick fit of laughter. "Hahaha! You really fell for that? I clearly mean Syracuse, New York."

"Oh, come on! You can't do that to me!"

"We're not spending just a weekend in Italy, come on now. Isn't that place borderline post-apocalyptic by now? I've heard not even pets were allowed outside at some point."

"I think they're 'opening up' just live everyone else, five hundred quotation marks surrounding that 'opening up'... Then a single two-hundred-year-old human will get the virus and die and they'll be all like 'Shut down everything again! That could've been avoided! Let's destroy our economy even more over that!'"

"Don't belittle deaths like that, Rob. A second wave in New York would damage the economy way more than another lockdown."

"Ah! The 'second wave'! The legendary 'second wave'! How about we surf that wave, Son?! It's just so hard to keep taking this seriously for so long. I know the measures are necessary, sorry."

"But seriously, how about going to Syracuse for the weekend?"

"Uh, it's fine. Let's go for it."

"You're clearly not fine with that. You're not even wagging."

"Argh! Why is lying as a dog so hard?!"

"I'm not seriously considering Syracuse, just wanted to see if you'd assume it was the Italian one. Thanks for the laugh."

"You're welcome, jerk... I don't dislike Syracuse, it's just that, you know, the only thing it has that New York doesn't is a big lake. The rest is just a very generic North American city."

"Here's a real suggestion: Boston!"

"Yes!"

"There you go!" Shane rubbed his dog's head. "We're gonna walk along Charles River, we'll check the piers. We'll stop by that fort so you can look at the planes landing."

"I'm not into that anymore!"

"Aw, really? That was super cute though... How about Providence?"

"No! Why are you downgrading our trip?!"

The man chuckled. "'Downgrading'? It's a less explored city for us, if anything."

"You can't just suggest that after suggesting Boston! Providence's just a miniature Boston! And the road trip will be shorter!"

"If you wanted a long road trip you should've stuck with Syracuse."

"No. We'll do Staten Island this Wednesday and Boston this weekend, alright?"

"These are the plans. They're now locked."

"Great!" Rob's voice pitched up accidentally. "I can't believe we have things to do together planned out again! All I needed was to manipulate you with some hugging and crying!"

"That was sincere and you know it, Rob!" Shane surprised the dog by grabbing him, hugging him tightly.

Rob completed the hug. "I sure do... I love you so much, Shane... I can't wait to enjoy something with you again."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Fabulous job with this chapter as always! I do hope that you continue to post chapters regularly!
Wortge
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:06 am

Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

56th Street, Midtown Manhattan, Thursday 2:07 PM

The narrow one-way street in the very central part of the city was packed with slow-moving cars, a red grand tourer with two Golden Retrievers occupying the front seats among them.

"For dog's sake!" Brian complained to Luke. "What's with this traffic today?! What happened to Manhattan becoming a 'creepy ghost town' or something?! The only 'ghost' here now is my punctuality!"

"People don't want to use public transport anymore, Dad." Luke answered. "And this is the one place where all the residents can afford cars."

"Very unlikely these cars are Midtown residents, they're probably commuters from the outer boroughs. And you're overestimating Midtown a little, there's a lot of really miserable housing you can buy here too. And it still costs as much as some two-story house in Long Island."

"Would it cost as much as my house?"

"A little less, I dunno. I have no intentions of investing in real estate. If you had to move from your place in Jersey to the equivalent of it in Midtown Manhattan it'd probably be some studio."

"I'd live in the place where they film movies?"

Brian chuckled. "Really, Lucky? You're not a pup anymore, people will quickly switch from thinking your misconceptions are cute and funny to just assuming you're stupid. A 'studio apartment' is an apartment that has one main room with the kitchen, bed, living room set, all in it."

"Oh! I've heard the term, sorry."

"Make sure you make these mistakes in front of your friends instead of strangers. People are very judgmental, especially professionaly. Dog forbid you forget in what country 'Vienna' is, Rob chewed my ear out for that."

"Do you know where that is?"

"Austria. I had to find it in a map once and I took more than ten seconds and Rob just couldn't believe I could be so ignorant of a place I've never been to and just vaguely heard about. At least with that humiliation I now know exactly where that place is. The best thing about making mistakes is that you remember them clearly and that makes them very unlikely to happen again... What's a 'studio', Luke?" Brian challenged, looking at his son, smirking.

"It's where they film movies and also a word for an apartment with only one room!" He answered proudly.

"Not only one room!" The father corrected. "The bathroom's still separated, although maybe there's some really desperate places where it isn't. I wouldn't even be surprised if there are apartment buildings out there where the units have no bathrooms and you're supposed to use a public one in the building or something."

"Thank dog we'll never have to experience that, right?"

"Now, now, Lucky. Don't be proud of your wealth, especially if you're just born into it. That's like being proud of winning a lottery."

"But people are proud of that too, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't say 'proud', just glad that they got the random numbers right somehow... The *light* is *green*!" The Retriever started complaining about the traffic again. "Just go! If the avenue you want to turn on's jammed just give up and go straight! Christ!"

Luke laughed a little. "Seeing a dog complaining about traffic is a bit funny, not gonna lie."

"I'm getting more and more human each passing day, I know." Brian grumbled. "I fear that when I go as far as putting a suit on to go to work in the main offices next week I'll just poof into an actual human."

"Would you even mind that?"

"Of course I would, Lucky! It'd be horrifying! Imagine people assuming I'm your owner! Or assuming I'm Rob and Xander's owner! Please no!"

"Yeah... They'd have to modify this car again for you too."

"That'd be in the bottom of the list of incoveniences, it's just money and a small wait... I'd appreciate the extra twenty years of life though, not gonna lie."

"Not if you also spend twenty years locked up in your house so you don't transmit a virus."

"Things aren't that terrible, Son! Worst-case scenario, all the mask-wearing and 'social distancing' will be gone after about five years, not twenty."

"'Worst-case' for them. You're profiting off this current scenario immensely."

"Oh, don't bring that up. The pandemic gave the organization a good push but now I believe we're past the phase of profiting off of the misery of millions of unemployed and dead humans."

"Wow, you just put that in very blatantly dark terms, didn't you?"

"It is what it is. Every profit can be traced back to some injustice happening somewhere. Capitalism isn't ethical, let's not assume our privileges extend to the entire world."

Luke snickered. "Being a dog CEO isn't a big enough novelty for you, now you want to be a communist CEO too."

"I'm not communist! I just recogni- Why did this turn political so fast? Let's stop this train of thought."

"Hehe. We were talking about money, what did you expect?"

"I dunno, some talk about expensive watches?" Brian slowed down the car and started indicating right, looking at the entrance of an underground parking lot. "It's right here, Son. This garage is actually in the very building your sisters live in." He informed while the car descended the ramps and began to navigate the parking complex.

"Cool." Luke replied neutrally, looking at some of the information signs on the walls. "Heh, 'G.M.C.'" He read the parking garage's name out loud. "G.M.C. Two!" The dog exclaimed with an attempted Slavic accent.

"There's only one, I believe. 'Garage Management Company', that's what it stands for." Brian explained. "One of my clients, by the way."

"Oh, sorry. That was just a reference, some Internet meme."

"Really, Luke? One Xander's enough already."

"I wish I knew Japanese like him, though."

"Put effort into it then. He doesn't know it by chance, he actually invested time into learning it."

"I know, I know. You adapted really fast into being a dad, you know?"

"I guess it's just instinct." Brian shrugged, waiting for the garage attendant after parking his car. A uniformed human soon approached the car from the left side.

Brian and Luke took their seatbelts off and opened their doors. "Good afternoon!" The dog driver greeted the attendant formally, the attendant trying to hide some surprise at the species of the luxury car's driver. "Here's the keys, take care." He handed the car keys to the worker.

"Right, uh, thank you." The man replied while the two dogs closed the car doors and prepared to leave the garage. "Never seen a dog driving a Ferrari before, this truly is the 'land of opportunity' isn't it?" He commented before Brian started walking away.

"It's a Maserati! The logo's right there!" Brian corrected incredulously.

"Figure of speech, you shouldn't have gotten a red one if you didn't want that confusion. Are you trying to pass it off as a Ferrari?"

"No! If I wanted a Ferrari I'd buy one instead! Do you think it's more expensive?"

"Believe it or not, I never looked up the prices for these things. Sorry, sometimes I forget this place's right under a luxury condominium. Have a good day! Uh, Sir."

"Have a good day too!" Brian started walking away before remembering something and going back to the human, Luke watched the interaction while leaning on the car's back. "Don't try to valet this car unless you want to feel like a giant, do you need my number in case you need to move it?"

"How long is your stay here meant to be?"

"Uh. Two hours tops."

"Then don't worry about it! Enjoy the day, doggies!"

"Thank you." Brian replied courteously, finally walking away with his son towards the condo tower's entrance. "Why bother with 'Sir' if they're gonna call me 'doggie' immediately after?" He commented curiously to Luke, chuckling.

"He was warming up to you, you know? If you two talked for ten more seconds he'd be petting you right now."

"Haha, that's humans for you. You could be a human's boss reprimanding and firing them angrily for doing a terrible job and deep down they're just instinctively thinking 'Awwww! What a cute little critter ruining my career right now!'"

"Have you ever done that?"

"No. I've only visited the offices like, six times... Showing people my subsidiary executive ID card when they assume I'm some worker's dog is always priceless, though." The two dogs continued in silence until they reached the tower's front door. Entering the building, they were greeted by a large lobby area, a small corridor with elevators connected to it, in front of them. A human and a cat manned a reception desk, looking at the two.

"So, here we are." Brian began. "Let's see what your sisters are up to."

"Do you think they're really 'spoiled'?"

"I think Mist's just assuming things, let's wait and see." Brian pressed the elevator's button.

"I mean, I've seen your house. I'd say it's more luxurious than this place right here. If I assumed you were spoiled just from seeing that, I'd be really wrong."

"Eh, I'm spoiled in some ways."

"What ways?"

"I dunno, ways I don't even notice. Growing up with millionaires probably makes you assume things are way better than they really are, and I try my hardest to be aware of that."

An old woman joined the two dogs in waiting for the elevator after a brief wait. "Are you two residents?" She asked the two strange dogs.

"Yes." Brian answered firmly. "May I help you?"

"I'm not looking for help, just never seen you two here."

"Same, Miss." The doors opened, the three getting in.

The woman stood close to the elevator panel and pushed the button for her floor. "What floor are you two going to?" She offered to help Brian after noticing him trying to reach the panel.

"Sixty-ninth, please." Brian answered, she pressing the respective button.

"Nice." Luke commented.

"Luke! Really?" Brian scolded.

"It's the funny number, Dad."

"And do you know why it is the 'funny number'?"

"Of course. I'm six! Not two! Do you think someone's innocence can last that long with the Internet?"

Brian laughed quietly. "I guess that's good to know, Lucky." He patted the younger dog's head.

"Does he say that every time you mention your floor?" The human asked Brian, trying to small-talk.

"Only if it's explicitly pointed out like that."

"Do you two live by yourselves here? Are you one of those 'self-owned' pet families? That's super cute!"

"Yup! I'm living here with my son and two daughters. We have a human visiting today though, that's why I was stretching my legs with my little treasure here for a while." He put an arm over Luke's shoulder, squeezing his son a little.

"Awww! That's adorable! Oh, sorry, sorry!" The woman quickly got out of her trance and apologized. "I've heard you shouldn't react like that to pet families, it must feel really patronizing."

"Don't worry about it!" Brian assured. "Human families are 'super cute' too!"

"Really?" The elevator stopped at a floor lower than Brian's destination. "Well, see you another day then." She left the elevator, the ride continuing for the other two.

"What's the point of lying like that though?" Luke questioned, a little annoyed.

"Ugh, the bureaucracy to visit people gets worse and worse the fancier their place is. I've had to visit people living in gated communities where it feels like you're entering the US from Mexico. As soon as I saw that 'all visitors must be announced' sign there I started trying to pretend this is day one thousand of us living here."

"Hah! Quite the rule-breaker, aren't you? I thought you had just missed it and we got lucky."

"You certainly said every single thing possible that could imply this being your first time here, let's just hope some crime doesn't happen here today. This isn't even the first time this week I'm trying to stretch the law." The elevator door finally opened on their floor.

"Nice!" Luke pointed out again after seeing the floor number.

"Stop that!" The two dogs searched for the right apartment number, Brian buzzing the door once finding it.

The door opened to a middle-aged woman. "Brian and Luke, I'd assume?" She guessed.

"Indeed!" Brian confirmed. "It's nice to meet you, Carla. I'm here to see my two daughters."

"It's a pleasure to have you here, Brian." She stepped aside. "It's very nice to see a pet who treats their kids as something other than an opportunity to make some extra cash, especially a fine purebred like you."

"Please. Money was never an issue." He answered politely while walking in, his son closing the door. "It was just a favor for Tanya, one of my owner's friends. Your two dogs were the litter's 'excess puppies'." Brian talked while sitting down on the living room sofa together with Luke and Carla. "And Luke here." He embraced his son with one arm playfully. "Was the 'Lucky' one! Getting to grow up with his mom."

"I tried giving the two the best life they could have. Don't you think they're 'lucky' too?"

"Definitely! This place is gorgeous! I'd even consider moving to a place like this if I didn't value my house's swimming pool and sauna so much! And I'd hate having to leave my car's keys with the garage attendant instead of just having my own garage too."

Carla desperately tried to hide her surprise at the dog's apparently extremely wealthy background. "Uh, money really was 'never an issue' for you then, huh?"

"What do you mean? I got no money from breeding, it was just me helping a human with a puppy they wanted. Turns out the person I helped the most was myself!" He turned to his side and suddenly hugged Luke, licking his face. "I love this kid so much, Carla! I hope I can be a good father to Lisa and Luna too!" He exclaimed after being done with the hug, now just petting the slightly-ashamed dog's head.

"Right, uh. I don't really know your owners, can I get some background on you before we have the big reunion?"

"Sure. You adopted the two from some adoption website, didn't you?"

"Indeed! All I know is that they were living in a house in New Jersey."

"Alright. I'm Brian Kuczynski. I live in Malba, Queens. I'm twenty-two years old, turning twenty-three this year. I live with four humans, they're two student kids and two adults, who are a company chairman and an actress. I run a modest non-profit local dog club as a community project and work professionaly as a chief subsidiary executive."

"As a dog? Do you have formal education?"

"No, I'm completely self-taught. With a lot of assistance from my dad, of course. My human dad, I have no idea who my biologicals are or were."

"OK... And what's that job exactly? 'Executive'?"

"I'm the main executive of a subsidiary. I'm in charge of the major administrative decisions of an enterprise that's subjected to another."

"Oh, wow. You can just say 'CEO', you know? No need to try to be humble with technicalities. I knew their mother was some middle-class companion dog in Jersey, no idea their father would have this profile."

"Haha. Not the usual profile of a male dog who's mating with someone without the intention of raising pups, is it?"

"Definitely not." She laughed. "Well, Brian. Make yourself at home." The human got up, outstretching her arms to indicate the entire condo. "Especially considering this place is apparently a humble shack by your standards."

"Don't be so modest, please!" Brian also got up, getting close to the big windows behind the living room's TV, his son following. "Take a load of this view of the city! There are towers that charge people just for them to get a view like this for a few minutes and then leave. And you get to live here seeing it all the time! I know a friend who'd trade my mansion for this condo in a heartbeat if he were in my place!"

"You get sick of it eventually." Carla stood by Brian's side, also looking at the city's skyline. "With Coronavirus pretty much caging me inside this thing this year I've been cogitating selling it and moving to my summer house in the Hamptons for good. The two really don't want that though, weird dogs. What happened to dogs loving beaches, big backyards and some actually fresh air?"

"Hahaha. That previously-mentioned friend of mine would have a heart attack at the prospect of moving from this place to somewhere in the Hamptons."

"Ugh, they don't make dogs like they used to anymore." The woman teasingly complained. "Now they just act like miniature humans with fur, long ears and tails. Go fetch a stick! Why are you working as a waitress and spending your free time visiting art galleries?!" She continued.

Brian laughed in response. "After a few thousand years living with humans, we dogs are finally bored enough to just try mimicking them, right?" He stopped looking at the view and checked his surroundings quickly. "So, where are the two?"

"They're upstairs. They weren't really thrilled knowing their biological dad was planning on coming, let me just point that out so you don't get too disappointed."

"Hm." Brian nodded, concerned.

"They're kinda assuming you're some lower-class dog who just bred with their mom for some quick cash. Something which I was also guilty of assuming, I'm sorry. Try to surprise them." Carla suggested.

Brian sighed. "If they'll love me just because I'm 'rich' then I shouldn't even bother. I have to fix that vapid mentality instead of encouraging it by being another wealthy gift-dispenser in their lives."

"I'd love that, Brian. They ended up turning out so dismissive of anything not opulent. As someone who had to climb all the way from the bottom, it disgusts me. They also have an insane hatred towards their old family for birthing them in New Jersey and having that show up in all their documents as a consequence, as if it's some backwater place that ruins their prestige."

"Oh, wow... Let's see, then." Brian started walking towards the condo's stairs.

"Wasn't my first encounter with you literally you just showering me with expensive gifts?" Luke asked his father while following him.

"You'll bring that up, Luke? Everything turned out fine, right? Or do you really only like me because of your new computer?"

"I *adore* you, Dad!" He tried to squeeze his father with one arm while walking side-by-side. "Just don't lick me like that in front of humans again, please!"

"No promises!" The two made their way to the second floor. Both briefly leaning on a railing surrounding an opening to the condo's living room on the lower floor, seeing Carla watching them from below. Two walls faced the room that featured nothing besides the big opening to the lower floor, one door on each wall. Brian assumed the doors lead into the condo's bedrooms and presumably each of his daughters. The Retriever approached the nearest door to the stairs and opened it after courteously knocking.

Brian saw a Golden Retriever lounging on a small bed next to a queen-sized bed, watching a giant TV facing it, hanging on the bedroom's other wall. "Hello, Luna!" He greeted joyfully, deeply hoping he managed to randomly guess the name correctly. "I'm Brian, and this is Luke. I'm your dad and this is your brother."

"Sick." She replied dismissively, not turning her attention from her TV show.

Brian and Luke shyly sat down on the big bed next to hers, Luna remaining completely unreactive towards the two. "How's your life here? Did you grow up well?"

"It's fine, probably a lot better than yours, at least. I had to spend a few months in some terrible village this year, though! It was terrible! Especially knowing that everything around here was still open to pets during that time! Thank dog Mom came back last month and I can still enjoy a little bit of the restrictions on humans!"

"It was in the Hamptons, wasn't it?"

"Yeah! Did she tell you? Amagansett! What a mind-numbingly boring place! Full of humans from here that were scared of dying! Pets from here who somehow are fine with living in a place that's literally just houses and four shops! And let's not even mention the elitist locals who think they're better than us because they're not from a civilized place!"

"I've also heard from Carla that she's planning on moving there permanently. How's that going?"

"Aaaaargh!" She almost screeched. "I think we talked some sense into her head! I don't even want to imagine moving to Brooklyn! Let alone to the ends of Long Island!"

"I see her point. Back when humans weren't even supposed to be going outside it didn't make a difference to her what's available close to her home. Being stuck inside a big house in the Hamptons is more appealing than being stuck near the top of a skyscraper. Did you make her aware of how much you value the entertainment that's accessible to you in this location, and how it's a better option for you three than living in an area where the only attraction is your own big, lavish house?"

"Why do you talk like that?!" Luna sat up while asking, mockingly. "Are you trying to look cultured? I know you're just some mutt from New Jersey who had your three pups just to make some quick cash. Are you here to beg for some money because of the crisis? Just discovered that two of your pups hit the big time and you're desperately looking for some scraps?" She sneered with contempt.

"Not at all!" Brian dismissed stoically. "Money's never been a worry. And I'm from Queens, not Jersey."

"Oh, good! You're from Eastern New Jersey!" She chuckled. "So what are you here for? Just wanna enjoy this little apartment before Mom has to kick you out?"

"Nah, my house's good enough. It's basically a Hamptons mansion moved to New York City. There's no amazing view, but having my own garage mean I can conveniently drive to the City in some minutes anyways. Assuming ideal traffic, of course."

"Of course you live in a mansion." She deadpanned disbelievingly. "And also drive a car. Do you know how expensive modifying a driver's seat for a dog is? Not to mention how unprepared auto schools are for teaching pets how to drive, the very few ones that even have that available."

"Things went fine for me, actually. What happened to you?"

"I never attempted learning to drive. I just heard from a friend who did try."

"Hm. You know, the thing with word-of-mouth is that people are way more eager to tell their negative experiences than their positive ones. All the people who easily got their license just never comment on it, it's unremarkable."

"Just show me your license then, can you do that? Can't wait for the excuse."

"No excuses, Dear." Brian grabbed a small wallet from his collar and searched for his driver's license. "Here it is." He handed the card to her.

"What kind of surname is that?!" She laughed.

"It's Polish. My humans are from Germany though."

"Alright, 'Kucks Zeenskee'." She checked the address in the license. "Whitestone? Do you really live in those mansions next to the bridge?"

"In one of them, yeah. Wanna google that address? Are you gonna claim I forged this license if it turns out it's not the miserable shack you assume your biological parents live in? Are you jealous of the fact it's not from New Jersey?"

"Aaargh! Are you serious?! You're gonna try to cut me that deep?! I'm gonna google it, it's gonna be some giant mansion, and you'll think I believe you're worth something. It's forged, I don't care. And just because you mockingly guessed I was gonna accuse it of being forged doesn't automatically mean it isn't."

Brian sighed. "Come on, Luna. I'm only here to check up on my blood."

"I don't care about my blood. Especially if it comes from a poor charlatan and some yokel from Jersey."

"You're terrible!" Luke growled, finally coming out of his quiet observation of the two. "How can you say such things?! Why are you so bad?!"

"Luke!" Brian chided. "Let me handle things." Brian grabbed his smartphone and opened a bank's application. "If this is the only thing that speaks to you at this moment, then so be it." Brian logged into his bank account and aimed the screen towards his daughter while it was still loading.

Luna stared briefly at the displayed number. "I've always wanted to see what it looks like when you have money in the millions on an account, that's sick."

"Wanna check out if this isn't some kind of computer trick?" Brian handed her his phone. "Give me my license back, by the way, please."

The two traded the smartphone and the license. Luna browsed many options on the banking app, checking if the eight figure balance would suddenly change to a more modest number and going over a part of the transaction history. "Alright." She handed Brian his cellphone after accidentally logging out. "So I guess my parents are the Jersey yokel and someone who has almost forty million but still lives in freaking Queens. Since you're not here for money, what are you here for?"

"I'm your father! You exist because of me. I just wanna check how my pups are doing." Brian put an arm around Luke and lovingly leaned his head on his, still looking at Luna. "I've known this bundle of life here for mere weeks and it's been such a joy! Why can't this happen to you two too?"

"Because you're po- I mean, because you're just some dog I've never seen before. Being my father doesn't mean you get a free card to immediately become my best friend ever."

"You know? That's fair... In fact, I had the exact same opinion as you do mere weeks ago. Six years ago I checked up on you three when you were newborns, then completely forgot about that. Because in the end, your mother was a stranger. All three of you were pups growing up on the other side of the rivers, genetic material aside, you were completely separate lives. But there's something special there, just touching someone you know only exists because of you. Knowing their life, their experiences, their happiness, knowing that you gifted all of that to them."

"Brian's an awesome dad, Luna." Luke tried to convince, embracing Brian while looking at her. "We drive around the city in his car, I can go to his house and use his swimming pool, he gave me a PC that's an absolute beast! Do you even have one?"

"No, why would I?" She answered. "Everything's mobile now. 'Now' being a time that started before I was even born, those giant boxes are useless and obsolete."

"But phone screens are so tiny! You can't sit down comfortably while using them. Mobile games are all terrible too, they're all predatory free-to-play puzzle games that are slowly driving the video game industry to ruin! Games aren't meant to be controlled with only a touchscreen!"

"Whoa, just a few minutes with Xander and it's affected you this much already?" Brian joked towards his son.

"I don't care about freaking video games." Luna responded. "Like, seriously? That's what you care about? Get a life."

"What do you do for fun, Luna?" Her father started trying to negotiate.

"I check out art galleries, even though exhibits have been pretty much frozen since March, can't find anything new anymore. Same thing for movie theaters, now they keep delaying new movies to ridiculous dates because they just *have* to release them when humans are allowed back inside theaters. Everything still open ends up with movie lineups that consist of releases from months ago and whatever the human theater managers think appeals to pets, like old animated movies and freaking Avengers bull***."

"Uh-huh. Um... Do you wanna check out an art auction?"

"They don't have those with the pandemic, do they?"

"Probably not, shame. Probably all online now."

"Ugh! I'm starting to hate the Internet, Dad!" Brian visibly flinched in surprise at Luna's usage of the word. "Everyone keeps talking about how physical stores are all gonna go bankrupt because everyone uses the Internet for 'convenience' and with the humans being scared of getting sick everyone's gonna shop online more and more and all of that fills me with such dread! I love browsing stores! I don't wanna lose that!"

"Stores aren't going anywhere, Luna. Come on now. What are you even buying in those?"

"I just like seeing the merchandise, strolling around the shopping areas and seeing all the movement. People like walking around parks, where all you see are grass and trees, what's so weird about liking to see human clothing and expensive gadgets instead?"

Brian chuckled, humoring her. "Alright. That's what you do, then? Check some art, movies and walk around shopping areas, not buying anything?"

"I buy things sometimes, mostly food."

"What kinds of food?"

"Well, you know, cavia-"

Brian snorted loudly. "Caviar?! Really?! That's so nouveau riche, Luna! Come on!"

She recoiled in surprise at the mockery. "What?!"

"That stuff's gross! Nobody likes that, they just pretend to because it's expensive. Just go drink rare wines if you wanna pretend to be rich."

"'Pretend'?! I don't need to pretend to be something I actually am!"

"You're not rich, you don't even have an income, your owner is. In the end, you're extremely proud of the accomplishments of someone else. Really nothing wrong with that, to be honest, but I don't think it excuses such arrogance."

"And where does *your* money come from, Mister Thirty-five Million?"

"My salary and the shares of an organization I control."

"And what's that 'organization'?"

"The Pet Independence Service, it deals with training, hiring and emancipation of non-human people."

"What?! You 'control' that?!"

"I'm in charge of its direction, hundreds of other workers control it along with me."

"Alright, I'm definitely googling this now." Luna quickly grabbed her phone, tapping. "'Key people: Brian Kuczynski'" She read, butchering the last name's pronunciation. "Your name's red."

"Does that disprove anything? I don't want a freaking Wikipedia article, hopefully I'm never 'notable' enough for that."

"No. Do you want me to get my own job, ideally signing up for your stuff? Not happening."

"Hahaha, some minutes ago you thought I was here to beg you for money, now you think I'm here to have you join my corporation. That's progress."

"Apparently you can have anything! Why are you here begging for me to care about you being my father?"

"This month I decided to quickly check on my offspring, a friend recommended me to do that. First one was Luke, and I deeply regret every second I've spent ignoring this cutie!" He hugged the other dog briefly. "Now it's you two's turn, can you two be good daughters or will you two just kick me out because who needs anything else when you have movies and art?"

"What can you give me other than love and rainbows?"

"Well... In case your human goes ahead with her plans of moving to the Hamptons. I could buy this condo and have you two continue to live here, for example. I think this place's like, four million, tops? Spare change when it comes to spending on my family. Is there any place you're interested in going to, by the way? If buying this place is 'spare change' to me, plane tickets would be mere pennies in comparison."

"Wow, you're suddenly just full of yourself, aren't you? I'd love visiting Paris and London again."

"That's also nouveau riche, Luna! There's other places beyond New York, Los Angeles and those two! What about Vienna?"

"No, I don't even know where that is." Brian and Luke snickered together at the response.

"You two even have inside jokes already?" An annoyed Luna reacted to the laughter. "I'd like to visit Paris sometime soon, are you gonna buy me a ticket then? For your precious daughter, whom you have gifted life to?"

"I'm not gonna give you ***." Brian suddenly stood up, putting an arm around Luke to force him to stand up at the same time. "You're a little opportunistic, arrogant, shallow leech." He berated while walking towards the room's exit, not even checking for her reaction. "Enjoy living in the Hamptons, by the way. Rob and his owner are gonna love this place!" He threatened while walking out, slamming the door behind him and Luke.

The two stopped near the railing of the other room, Luke looking at Brian, dumbfounded. "Why did that go off the rails so quickly?" He asked his father, chuckling.

"I've heard enough." Brian started explaining, gazing at the view of the city and the living room below, Carla no more in sight. "I was just getting constantly insulted and attacked, no sign of any kind of compassion or respect towards me or anyone who doesn't have something to give her for free. After a while I just wanted to turn the tables, making it go from she assuming I'm here to beg for money to her begging me for something. Then just finishing things off by telling her what I think of her and giving up on my intentions of befriending her."

"That was awesome, though!" Luke patted his father's back, putting an arm around him after. "You should've looked at her face instead of walking away like that! You told her off so well! Serves her right! Are you seriously gonna buy this place for Rob, by the way?"

"We'll see how things go with Lisa. Their future in this city is on thin ice, let's say."

"Hahaha! You can act like a movie villain when you want to, Dad!"

"Ugh, Stop that. Not the first time I get that, just reminds me of how money can corrupt you." He got away from the railing and approached the other door, Luke following. "If Lisa ends up being a really nice dog things will get very awkward here." He commented quickly before knocking on the door and opening it after a small pause.

Another Golden Retriever was lying on a small bed, holding and staring at a smartphone directly over her head. Brian leaned on the wall right next to her bed, Luke standing next to him. "Hey, Lisa." Brian greeted with an attempted loving voice.

"Hey. Are you the one responsible for me being here?" Lisa asked with an impatient tone.

"As in 'existing' or as in 'living in this place'? Yes on the first front, the second one's depending on how this talk goes."

"What do you mean? Is that a threat? Are you here because your owners abandoned you and you want to be adopted? Because I'm not gonna let that happen. Sorry, 'Dad'." She finished with derision.

Brian sighed, facepalming. "You two were so much better as puppies, you know?"

"Because we were poor? Yeah, yeah, rich people are evil, we get that a lot. But turns out we just lucked out, what can we do?"

"I don't know, treat strangers who aren't obviously wealthy with something close to respect? I've had enough already, Carla's done an atrocious job raising you two." Brian already began walking towards the exit. "I'm gonna see if I can fix that somehow. Although, to be honest, what I have in mind is more of a petty punishment than an attempt to better you two, goodbye." Brian closed the door behind him gently this time, leaving a very confused Lisa.

"Dad, think before acting." Luke warned, following his father downstairs.

"This is all perfect, Luke. I've done so much for College Point, so much for my dad's corporation, so much for you. Now it's finally my turn to do something for one of my best friends." Brian looked around the living room, sighting Carla using a desktop computer at a desk in one of the corners.

"I've done what I came here for, thanks for having me." He announced politely, approaching the human.

"Did it all go well?" Carla asked, clearly worried.

"Not at all, I'm sorry to say. They completely scoffed me, only treating me with a semblance of respect when I offered things for them. They're just completely selfish, as their father, it devastates me."

Carla sighed deeply. "I'm so sorry to hear that. I even told them to be polite, even by pretending. They're definitely gonna hear from me, it's about time I do something about their smug attitudes."

"You know?" Brian tried his hardest to not smirk or chuckle. "I think the best way to humble them would be to go on with your plan of selling this place, move to a less 'rude' region. Maybe just for a while, it'd help them."

"I've been thinking of that. All of this is also making me notice that me giving up on selling this apartment was me yet again pampering the two. Maybe this is the perfect place to go against their wishes for the first time, teach them some manners. You can't always get what you want, even if you're a pet."

"Indeed! You're planning on moving to your place in the Hamptons?"

"Yeah. It's calmer, it's healthier, the house's bigger. And getting some extra millions in my savings from selling this will make life way more comfortable with the current crisis."

"How about somewhere else? I've heard of this nice place called 'Babylon Gardens', very suburban Chicago. It's peaceful, quaint, open, pet-friendly, bike-friendly, move-in-ready must-see left-leaning, literal paradise on Earth! You'd love it!"

Carla chortled at the exaggerated description. "What?"

The older Retriever let out a quick laugh accidentally. "Sorry, there's this guy from that place in an online forum I check who keeps bragging about it like that. Me and Rob are joking about it a lot recently."

"Haha, right. I'll check that out though. I don't think moving to the Hamptons will do the two any good still, that's a really wealthy and affluent place. Maybe giving them a small taste of the middle-class life will make them realize a lack of ostentatious luxury isn't a death sentence. Living near Chicago's really appealing to me right now, too. That's a city that has basically everything New York also has to offer but doesn't have to deal with the headaches that come from being the country's main hotspot."

"Is five million a good offer for this place?" Brian asked bluntly.

"What? Definitely! I bought this place for three point five originally."

"Then that's my offer. You have my contact, how about we negotiate things this night? Five million US dollars, can you move out by August?"

Carla stuttered a little in surprise at the dog's sudden offer. "Uh, you really have that kind of money? I'd gladly give you the keys for that price."

"Then get ready! I'm about to gift this place to a good friend of mine. My enterprise deals with real estate a lot, don't worry about having to deal with a pet, alright? I know the ins-and-outs." The dog assured.

"OK. I guess I'll wait for you to contact me this night, then."

"Please! It's a pleasure to meet you, and a pleasure to do business with you!" He handed the woman a business card. "Just for formality and some extra assurance. Brian Kuczynski, Pet Independence Service Chief Executive. Goodbye!" He started making his way to the condo's front doors.

"Goodbye Brian! Goodbye Luke! Thank you for Lisa and Luna!"

"You're welcome." He replied quickly before closing the door.

The two dogs started making their way towards the car, navigating the corridors, elevator and building lobby. "You're really gifting this place to Rob?" Luke broke his silence. "I never thought this would be the outcome from all of this."

"Butterfly effect in action, Son. Rob's father decided to constantly pester me about checking up on you three at some point, next thing you know that directly causes his own son to possibly get a Midtown luxury condo."

"And that also resulted in me getting my new PC and knowing you. I love this mystery dog!"

Brian lovingly hugged Luke again. "Aaaaah! I love you so much! You little treasure! In a way I'm even glad the two turned out to be terrible snobs, not gonna need to split this love between you three now!"

"Give it all to me! Are you bringing me home now?"

"Yeah. That's enough for today." The two dogs arrived at the car after a long moment of uneventful silence, Brian routinely paying for the parking and getting his keys back.

"Thank you for being you, Luke. That's all." Brian suddenly said, as the two were already sitting inside the car, waiting for some traffic.

"You're welcome. What do you even mean by that?"

"Thank you for accepting me. For respecting me despite initially approaching you and your mother as a complete stranger with only a genetic relationship."

"Dad, please! Why would I reject you? You were so nice when you arrived home!"

"Well, did you see what happened to the other two? Thank you for not being that."

"Why would I ever act like that?! What's even their problem?! Just imagine me being like that, you arrive at my home and I decide to go all like 'Wow! You're just here to ask something from me and my rich family, right? I hate your guts and want you to leave immediately!' Why would I act like that?! Why would anyone act like that?!"

"People are naturally different, Lucky. Each brain is different. And each person is also raised and educated differently... I owe Mist and Tanya so much, I wish I could've saved the other two from this terrible personality they ended up developing."

"No way! No dividing your love by three, remember that!" Luke joked.

"It's all going to you now!" Brian continued driving in silence for a few minutes. "I can't wait to see if this apartment deal goes through! Imagine Rob's face when he sees that place! That view! That location!" Brian exclaimed.

"Does he deserve it?"

"I've had so much fun with him, of course! And he's in love with this town for some reason, might as well go all out then, force him to live in a place where he sees the city skyline twenty-four seven. Maybe that overdose will make him stop talking about how living anywhere else is terrible."

"But he travels a lot. Does he travel just to complain about how all other places are worse than New York?"

"I'm exaggerating a little. Living and visiting are different things. Rob takes offense to people who try to friendly suggest for him and his owner to move to where they're visiting, especially if it's some town of one thousand people where all you have is a bar, a Walmart and a river to fish on. I don't know if there's anywhere Rob would prefer to live in or at least not object to the idea. I like New York, but for sure there are better places to live in, right?"

"Yeah! Teaneck, New Jersey!" The younger dog boasted mockingly.

"That's just extended New York. Good place, though. Really doesn't feel like it's right next door to this chaotic mess!" Brian suddenly complained loudly, reaching a traffic jam. "Why do they have to constantly dig these holes in the middle of the streets?!"

Luke laughed. "Just enjoy the ride, Dad. No rush. Maybe Mom will only kill you twice this time."
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Obbl
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Obbl »

Despite how that visit turned out, I'm really happy for Brian. ^^ He should definitely be proud of himself
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I am also glad that Brian went ahead and did this because he needed to. Wonderful chapter as always!
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

I-95 North, Warwick, Rhode Island, Friday 6:11 PM

A silver sedan drove along the eight-lane freeway going through a suburban area, among some relatively light traffic. A human drove the car while a Golden Retriever sat on the other front seat, wagging and panting happily while looking at the scenery around the car.

"Get off the passing lanes, Shane." Rob almost demanded, switching to a more serious attitude.

"I have to keep left here to take an exit." Shane explained quickly.

"You're gonna take a break? You just said you're not hungry."

"Not an exit to a rest stop, it's an exit to the road that goes to Boston."

"This is the I-95. It goes directly to Boston, just keep using it."

"I'm taking the Two-ninety-five, think of it as a shortcut."

"You mean the beltway bypass? Like howl you are! Stay on the freaking Ninety-five!"

"It's rush hour, Rob! Do you wanna get to Boston or not? I thought Providence was 'miniature Boston' for you? You wanna stay on the Ninety-five just to see the city?"

"Of course! How bad can 'rush hour' even be here?! The city sucks but at least it's not gonna be more trees!"

"You've been stuck in a city for months! Aren't forests a more interesting sight for you by now?"

"No! We live in New York, not Phoenix! There are trees back home too, get off!" He growled as the car got very close to the junction.

Shane quickly checked the mirrors and switched to one lane to the right. "There you go, city enthusiast." He grumbled.

"Yeah!" Rob cheered. "Take that, 'Woonsocket'!" He read from an overhead sign.

"If we get stuck in some traffic jam inside Providence I'll be very passive-aggressive towards you, just be warned."

"Worth it! Remember that one time you used the Francilienne instead of the Périphérique? That was so boring!"

"Don't compare Paris to Providence, Rob. You'll see that you wouldn't have missed anything with the Two-ninety-five. In fact, it'd be our first time driving there."

"Look at that windmill!" Rob wagged, almost touching his face against the window. "It's like we're in Denmark!"

"Pretty much as flat as Denmark too."

Rob noticed his phone suddenly vibrating, he looked at its screen and saw a call coming from Brian. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hey, Rob!" Brian greeted. "Are you in that trip you told me about?"

"Yes, Brian!" He started telling happily. "I'm finally with Shane again! I've missed these days so much!"

"So happy for you, Rob! Have fun! Where are you right now?"

"Uh, Warwick."

"Where?"

"Providence." Rob changed his answer impatiently.

"Oh, Rhode Island? Are you OK with having a quick talk with me during the road trip?"

"Go ahead, Brian. I can multitask."

"You're not driving right now, are you?"

"No! I'm multitasking this talk and my sightseeing. You know how scenic this region is, right?"

"It is?"

"Haha, no, but I'm enjoying anything at this point. Just have your talk before we go past Downtown, alright?"

"Alright. Thing is, my individual balance has been growing way past an amount I reasonably need and I've been thinking of using some of that excess money to better the lives of the people I treasure the most first and foremost. Are you fine with your current residence?"

"Yeah, it's great. I'm kinda avoiding my neighbors right now, though. I'll explain why later, it's nothing serious, don't worry."

"Well, I'm very close to getting you a new house, for you and Shane. I think it's up to your standards. I'll buy it, it'll be P.I.S. property, technically. Shane could own it, but I don't think he can afford the taxes. I could cover the building's monthly parking costs too, they're kinda hefty."

"Wow, Brian! Really? What were you able to get, then?"

"It's this amazing manor in Babylon Gardens. Prestigious area of River Ridge, Illinois. Great subway access, valet service, waterfront property. Not to mention the neighborhood! It's idyllic, crime-free, worry-free, carbon-neutral and has the best dog club in it! You'll love the place!"

"Come on, Brian!" Rob groaned. "Did you seriously call just to prank me with this joke?!"

"Absolutely not! Couldn't resist, sorry! How about this, then? 56th Street, Manhattan." Brian stopped to listen to Rob's reaction.

"That's very central. Mere blocks south of Central Park." Rob pointed out after Brian stopped his description.

"Sixty-ninth floor."

"Holy-! Are you serious?! That'd be really nice! No pun intended."

"Two bedrooms, two floors. South-facing view. It's in 'CitySpire Center', heard of it?"

"I have! The view must be fantastic! You'd give that to us?! That's amazing, Brian!"

"It's partially furnished, probably ready for you to move in in a few weeks. Can I go ahead and finalize things, then?"

"Of course!" Rob barked enthusiastically. "I'd never imagine I would ever live in a place like that! I can't wait to check it out! When is-" Rob stopped his outburst sharply. "Oh, um... I should ask Shane about it first, sorry."

"Oh, that's right! Call me back once you two have decided, alright? Enjoy Boston!"

"Thank you, Brian! Thank you so much!" Rob finished his conversation and stored his phone. He glanced at Shane, seeing the human paying full attention to his driving and deciding to go quiet, silently watching some passing houses and the other highway traffic. Rob was smiling broadly and even giggling at times, failing utterly in his attempt to display a very neutral mood.

"What should you ask me about, then?" Shane inquired after a moment.

Rob paused briefly in order to control his emotions before talking. "Brian finally noticed he can use money for things other than maintaining his dog club and he's planning on spending some of it on us now."

"And how's he gonna do that? Go on."

"He's offering to gift you a Midtown Manhattan condo. Sixty-ninth floor, two bedrooms, he can cover the parking costs and taxes."

"Wow! Umm... That's quite an improvement."

"What do you say about it?"

"That'd be a crazy change. Remember we just moved, Rob. I'll call him once we check in, we can't just accept an apartment as a gift as if it's only some simple present. We'll discuss the deal and hopefully I can get some pictures and information on the place."

Rob frowned a little. "I understand... I know you even own our current apartment, we never intended to move from it. This sudden offer must be a little overwhelming."

"Don't be worried, Rob. You'll have as much input as I do in making this decision."

"What are you leaning towards? Harlem or Midtown?"

"I know you'd run to a home in Midtown if given the chance. It's the most 'big city' area of the whole city, self-proclaimed 'center of the universe', and at such a high floor I don't think you'd even get a lot of noise."

"Of course! But are *you* OK with being gifted some condo that'll make you look like a millionaire?"

"Now that I'm thinking about it properly, moving to a posh place like that might be kind of a culture shock. Me, some upper-middle-class worker, living on the sixty-ninth floor of a skyscraper. How do I explain that to my friends? 'My dog's friend gifted it to me, I got it for free.' Imagine their faces! They'd never buy that!"

Rob laughed. "I wouldn't mind continuing living where we are right now. I know you always try to be modest and being forced to move to some million dollar condo would make you look like some 'young CEO' tryhard."

"As modest as I can be while traveling whenever possible, at least. Let's discuss things at the hotel, we're gonna walk out of it either knowing that we'll soon be moving to Midtown, or having convinced ourselves that our little place's enough and Brian should spend his money with something else."

"Gosh. Xander gets a VR helmet from Brian while I get a freaking apartment. I didn't know I was such a clear favorite."

"Do you know why that is? You don't even live close to him anymore, unlike Xander."

"I'm just joking. I think he's gifting an apartment to me because living in a central location is an obvious wish of mine. No idea if Xander has an obvious wish, he actually dislikes the VR. Brian really gifted it to Jon, his new brother, and he did that just to give something out for once instead of just storing it in the club's storage."

"I see."

Rob returned to full attention to his sightseeing. "Ah! There it is!" The Retriever looked at some towers visible from an elevated section of the freeway. "Downtown Providence! It's so cute!"

"Wanna take a look around?"

"No! Boston!"

"Hehe. At least traffic's alright, you got lucky there."

"Don't celebrate too early, people are heading home right now. Up until now we were heading towards Downtown, now we're driving away from it."

"Do you think I should try to make it to the Two-ninety-five from here?"

"No! Why are you so afraid of traffic? Boston isn't going anywhere."

"I wanna see Brian's offer, Rob!" Shane almost whined. "I can't wait to just arrive already now!"

"Wow, were you trying to pretend you weren't fazed by the offer before?"

"Every second I spend thinking about it makes my imagination go wilder! Living in the heart of the city! Forget modesty!" Shane beamed, holding the steering wheel with force.

"Oh, Shane. I'll let you borrow some of my personality, alright?"

West End, Boston, Massachusetts, Friday 7:38 PM

Rob lounged on the hotel room's queen-sized bed, looking at Shane tapping on his smartphone while gazing through the room's window, waiting for text responses.

The man soon sat on the bed's edge and showed the phone screen to his dog. "Here's our new ho- possible new home, Rob. What do you think?"

Rob watched a small slideshow of photographs of the property showing mainly the two-floor living room, the bedrooms and the kitchen. Many pictures also capturing the condo's windows and the view of the city they provided. "Shane!" Rob exclaimed incredulously. "It's amazing! I've never even been to a place like that!"

"What's your vote then? Move yet again or politely refuse?"

"Move! I don't even wanna go back home after this trip! Aaaah!" He shrieked excitedly. "Imagine living with that view! I'm gonna move my desk right next to the glass windows! I'm gonna put my bed right next to the view and sleep against the glass! I'm gonna buy a telescope and explore the city for hours!"

Shane hugged Rob, quieting him down temporarily. "Oh, Rob! Some weird dog you are, what's so great about looking at neatly-stacked concrete?"

"Shane!" Rob struggled to not whine. "You wanna move there, don't you? It's closer to your work!"

"Of course I do!" He ensured the dog, tightening the hug, petting his back and then letting go. "I'm gonna call Brian right now, he has the green light. We'll check the place out sometime next week."

"Yes! I love you! I love Brian!" Rob yelled while hugging the bed's blanket. "Aah! If I wake up right now and it turns out convincing you to go out and Brian's gift was all a dream, I'll be so angry!"

"Brian was rich even before all of this, just tell him to gift you if everything turns out to be a dream."

"Thank you, Dream-Shane, I'll do that." Rob joked.

"I'm gonna call Brian now, telling him to go ahead with everything, alright? Hopefully he doesn't decide to gift us a castle after just a few months and here we go with the moving headaches again."

"But we wouldn't want to move to a castle, would we?"

"Oh, right! Thare are no castles in New York, you'd never accept that. I mean a penthouse."

"Our new home's already right in the middle of everything, it has a great view, and I assume great Internet. I think I'm satisfied with it already, that's enough for me."

Shane petted Rob's head. "A luxury condo probably worth millions is what satisfies you completely. You're easy to please, aren't you?" He deadpanned.

"All of our houses pleased me, even the first one. I'm not demanding, am I?"

"I'm just joking." Shane got up from the bed and stretched. "Let me try to call Brian now, deal with all the human bureaucracy that mutt's somehow so used to. Do you feel like perhaps showering before going out to see the city?"

"I'm not itching yet, but I'll do it now just so I don't have to do it later." Rob also got up, moving to the bathroom door while unfastening his collar. "Gotta use my leash too, just to be safe. I don't think they have that outdated required stuff here, but it's not bothersome or anything, especially considering the humans having to wear face masks all the time now. How the table turns."

"You wanna try it out? I think it's super stylish." Rob grabbed his sunglasses from an end table and put it back on, complementing the black face mask he was already wearing, posing to Rob.

"You look like you're about to rob a store. After assaulting a journalist."

"Ouch, Rob! Nobody will bat an eye at this outfit, especially in these unprecedented ti-"

"Stop that! At least use another word!"

"In these trying, uncertain times. Where I have to wait for food for longer and I'm being gifted a giant condo." He looked at Rob, still engaged with him from right next to the bathrom door. "Are you gonna shower or not?"

"Is all the banter over? I don't wanna miss it."

"It is, go on." Rob entered the other room, the sounds of water hitting the floor soon coming from it. Shane called Brian from his cellphone and entered a quick exchange, confirming the deal and discussing the details surrounding the apartment's ownership. He then sat on the bed and waited for Rob's return.

The water sounds ended and Rob soon stepped out, his black collar now attached to a leash that was put on his own head. "Your turn now?" The Golden Retriever asked while sitting on the bed again.

"Sure." Shane put an arm on Rob's shoulder. "And guess what? It's all done! We're gonna check the place out when we arrive from Boston, Brian will wait for us. We can move there by August already."

"Yes! Shane!" Rob hugged his owner's waist with force. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't wait to see that place in person! It's home now!"

"Thank Brian, Rob. Not me. This is all a gift to you for being a friend to him, so thank yourself too."

Rob calmed down and got back to sitting on the bed's edge. "How am I even gonna enjoy this trip now?" He complained teasingly.

"You'll forget about everything the second you see a shiny building, don't worry."

"I hope!" Rob got up from the bed, walking towards the window. "Nice! You can see Downtown from here! It's so cute!"

"There you go. Are you really gonna use that leash? I've never seen pets here using that stuff."

"Neither have I, but I don't mind."

"People will either assume you have no discipline or that you're some tourist from a place where dogs have to wear that outside, you know? They'll think you're a hick from some terrible pet-regressive hellhole like Utah or Illinois."

"Argh! Don't even remind me! That place outside of the Chicago region feels like Saudi Arabia! I'll wear my usual 'N.Y.C.' look then." He unclipped the leash and put it on a table.

"No better way to convince you to not do something than telling you you're looking like a tourist. You're such a character." Shane commented while preparing to enter the bathroom.

"Maybe if I were looking like a tourist from a better place and not that unremarkable nothingness. 'Akkadian temple', what a ***ing joke." Rob spat.

"Rob!" Shane rebuked. "Stop the elitism! Rural Illinois can have some kind of unspoiled, simple agrarian beauty at times."

"You started it! But I'll keep in mind it could be worse."

Cambridge Street, Downtown Boston, Friday 8:20 PM

Rob followed Shane closely, wagging happily while looking at the city's skyscrapers and traffic.

"To the left there's the city hall." Rob tried to call Shane's attention to the monolithic concrete building. "Some people say it's the ugliest building in the world, do you agree?"

Shane judged the building briefly. "Really? I've seen worse, it just looks like your typical office block."

"Never really paid too much attention to it myself either. Just a good ol' slab of concrete to house all the administrators in."

"The worst-looking buildings in my opinion are these weird museums where they take an old building and then slap some weird glass annex that looks like a tumor, saying it represents the 'harmony between modern and classical architecture' or something."

"I know what you mean. Like the Dresden Military History and Royal Ontario ones."

"Gosh, Rob. How does your brain store so much information? I had no idea those were the museums I was thinking about. I remember the one that gave me a bad impression was in Germany, so I guess I was thinking of the Dresden one."

"I remember it! We were constantly mocking that weird prism just randomly sticking out of it. I found it funny and interesting though, not ugly."

"It just looks like some kind of high-effort graffiti. Architectural vandalism."

"Don't be boring, Shane! That was one of our highlights in Saxony, in my opinion. Did you seriously forget where it was?"

"Of course! Everywhere's just a blur after going out so much. I remember we saw an old building with some giant glass shard jutting out of it, that was all."

"Aww! That's sad, Shane! You should savor every single trip you make, remember them well and fondly, because they're all unique experiences that have to inevitably end."

"Don't act like you perfectly remember every single travel you've done. Do you seriously think that you'll remember all the details of this weekend's trip, for example?"

"It just started, but of course I will! Those Lamborghinis we saw in Manhattan, that emergency rest stop you had to make and how bad the restroom looked, you wanting to avoid Providence, Brian's call about our new home! Argh! You made me remember it again! Can we just go home?" Rob frowned and whined.

"No! Control yourself, Rob!" He tried to gently drag his dog closer to him, petting his head.

"I'm not gonna run away, Shane!" He moved closer to Shane by himself. "Do you really think I'm gonna impulsively run back to the hotel? What would my plans even be after doing that?"

"It could happen. Leashes exist for a reason, you know?"

"I know my street manners, didn't even need to be taught that by some human. Always walk keeping in mind people might want to go faster than you, respect their personal space. Basically try to act like everyone else is."

"Technically you were 'taught' to do that, then. Being conditioned by society is teaching, in a way."

"Good thing I wasn't raised in some woods. I'd be acting like a weirdo here, running all over the roads and expecting you to throw me a ball or something."

"You're thinking of Hobart when you say that, aren't you?"

"Not really, that's not the only country dog I know. And he's actually very stoic, always trying to look wise and calm."

"What about having a trip with him? We could start something with other dogs you know after going to Japan with Xander, what do you say?"

"He'd never accept it. He hates car rides. He hates any type of settlement, even Albany counts as a 'big city' for him. He'd never accept getting inside a plane, he probably believes there's some conspiracy theory where every single person who boards a plane actually dies in a plane crash and gets replaced by a clone in their destination as a cover-up."

"I have some suspicion that you're exaggerating a little there. What about forcing him?"

"No! Let him be! We could just travel with my dad again." He almost immediately started wagging.

"You really love that dog, don't you? That's an option."

"Consider it, consider it with love." The two quieted down, crossing the city's central area and two avenues with a small long park running between them.

"Please tell me you have something in mind, Shane." Rob said as they finished crossing the avenues and reached the area close to the waterfront. "You know how bad I am at deciding on things."

"As if I'm any better. You know how hopeless we two are."

"Please tell me that sentence was somehow a 'yes'."

"It was, actually. I have a plan, we walk along the waterfront, northbound, and visit the first food place not dedicated to seafood."

"Cool. That's kind of a roulette, you know?"

"Do you feel like going to a place we've been to already? That's likely to happen here."

"Nothing against that, I'm not even hungry yet. Just enjoy the moment." The two reached the harbor's edge, Rob occasionally looking behind him.

"Do you see someone following us, Rob?"

"No, why?"

"You keep looking behind us."

"I'm checking the city out. After such a break, I want the memories of this place burned deep into my mind."

"We've been to Boston, like, eight times. I think it's second only to Philly, thanks to these two being large cities that are close enough to us. I don't think you should worry about that."

"I love this so much, Shane! Just seeing something different for once! Don't you?"

"Of course! Do you think I'm traveling just to fulfill your desires? I'm not the best dog owner ever, if I didn't like traveling and you started telling me to travel with you somewhere I'd tell you to shut up and suck it up."

"And you don't! I'm so glad everything works out so well!" Rob grabbed Shane's arm closest to him and hugged it.

"Calm down a little, Rob. Gosh. You're seriously 'puppying out' today."

"What do you expect? I'm finally out of New York, I'm finally with you, I'm about to move to a place with an amazing view! How do you expect me to hold it?! I feel like a balloon about to burst!"

"Let me get that over with then." Shane surprised Rob by grabbing him from the ground, hugging the Retriever while holding him. "You're just loving everything, aren't you? I love seeing you so happy! You're such a cute little happy pup!" He baby-talked.

"Augh! Shane! You're embarrassing me now!" Rob tried to look for possible witnesses of the hug while in Shane's hold.

"Just burst already!"

Rob started laughing after a brief silence. "Hahaha!... I can't wait to move, Shane! I love Boston! I love you! Why is everything going so well so suddenly?! Was Traralgon a wizard?"

"Who?"

"Oh, forget it." Shane put Rob back on the ground, the dog dusting himself off.

"Remember nothing is actually 'going well', aside from the gifted condo. You're just happy because we're out of that terrible phase... I had to spend months with a divorce, finding a new place and moving out, and then the world goes to hell after a few months. Absolutely amazing timing." He remarked sarcastically. "We'd probably be doing this back in April already if 'everything was going so well'."

"Right. You're right. I'm happy only because I was deprived of this for so long... Although Brian can probably only afford that new place for us because of the pandemic, with the increased demand for working animals and all. So for us it's either this reality, or everything still being normal, we travel sooner, but we don't get the new apartment."

"Which reality would you choose, Rob? There's a pandemic but you get an amazing condo out of it, or would you prefer having 2020 go on as we expected it to?"

"Jeez, Shane! That's quite a dark question!... I don't wanna kill thousands of people for a new apartment, but you know? If I benefit from that so indirectly, it doesn't make me feel so guilty for preferring this reality. I'm really selfish, I'm sorry."

"I understand, Rob. It's not just deaths, there's all the economic damage too. That also results in deaths. Sarah would lose her job, for example."

"The only bad thing out of that is you wasting all your money on her."

"Rob! You barely ever gave her a chance!"

"Of course I did! She's just a sad, fun-hating, bitter person! Why did you even marry her? I'd be so against it if I knew her better before the marriage!"

Shane sighed. "Let's not even talk about that, sorry. It's the past."

"If it's the past then how about you stop spending your money on her?"

"She still needs to live, Rob! I'd be dooming Dorian by doing that too, he's completely innocent!"

"Just let her go back to her family, isn't that what she wanted? Why is she still her- I mean, in New York? Go back to living in bum*** nowhere, never to be seen again. That'd also make me less afraid of the possibility of you two somehow falling in love again and going back to that nightmare. Her kid was a mistake anyways, it's obvious she went on with the pregnancy just to use him as an excuse for keeping the marriage."

"Rob! Jesus Christ! Go back to acting like a puppy, OK? This talk isn't going well, let's please forget about that person."

"Please do! Permanently!"

"Stop!" Shane glared.

The man beelined for a restaurant he saw across the street from the waterfront, using a crosswalk with Rob following. The two observed an unremarkable medium-sized restaurant with a large line of humans waiting to enter approaching them.

Rob started walking towards the entrance rather than the start of line, splitting from Shane without noticing. "Rob!" The human called. "You're doing it again!"

"Oh! Oops!" They both started waiting together.

"Plenty of time for you to 'check the scenery' now, Rob. No need to make it look like you're running from a murderer anymore." Shane quipped after some wait.

"It wasn't that obvious, was it? I try to always look natural."

"It's fine. I only noticed it because I was paying attention."

Rob casually looked around while waiting. "Ugh. Can barely see the Custom House Tower from here with that tree."

"What about what you can see?"

"Just small businesses with apartments on the upper floors. Your average stuff."

"Beats Staten Island?"

"Probably... I'm here for the food, not for the view from the line. What a weird thing to discuss."

"It's East Asian. Looking forward to it? We've never been to this one."

"For sure! I'm gonna try yakisoba, but without all the vegetables."

"I'm feeling like having sushi today."

"I'm tempted. But while I remember sushi tasting really great and look forward to eating it, it always underwhelms me when I actually eat it, weird how that works."

"Can't say the same. I don't know if that's something that happens only to you or if it's something that happens to dogs in general. You can never know someone's quirks well when they don't share your species."

"Wanna become a dog, Shane? I'd be so down for that."

"No! I'm fine with my body, thank you."

"It'd be so great! The two dog BFFs, visiting the whole world! None of this weird implied master-subject dynamic. We'd be inside that restaurant by now too!"

"I'm a human and I love being one, Rob. Even with the mandatory face masks, 'social distancing' and all. Tone down the casual misanthropy a little."

"I'm not a misanthropist, you should take a look at what's happening in the playground on the other side of the avenue back home to see some actual serious cases of that."

"They're gonna run me off from there? Torches and pitchforks and all?"

"Mean words and threats of violence. Society's collapsing, Shane. Which side will you choose?"

"Don't give this year any more ideas, Rob."

"Agh! Stop treating years like they're sentient entities, that's so annoying. Like how everyone says 2016 was terrible because two famous people died or something."

"If only we knew, right? We were happy and didn't know it."

"What do you mean? We live in a better place now, we're about to move to an even better one. Your work's stable, your love life's over and you're fine with it. Aside from not having more things to do outside, everything's better than back then."

"I love your optimistic realism, Rob. I thought having less things to do outside would be a complete deal-breaker for you, though."

"The novelty of only non-humans being allowed in some places makes up for it... Some stuff's still like that, by the way, even in Boston. How do you plan on tackling that? Are we gonna split up?"

"We could do that. You have the tracker on you now, after all."

"I think I'll check the aquarium tomorrow. If there's no humans, I might for the first time in my life not be annoyed by all the children who always call the clownfish 'Nemo' over and over."

"You put that much faith in pups and kits?"

"They're too young to know about 'Finding Nemo', aren't they?"

"So are human kids. That stuff was part of *my* childhood, no idea how all the six year olds still know about it."

"What a terrible fate for that fish species, relegated to being associated with a fictional character forever. Good thing that can't possibly happen to dogs."

"Alright, Marley."

"Oh, shut up! That's a Labrador, not a Golden! Don't associate me with some hyperactive idiot who's somehow OK with moving to a farm, what a fate worse than death that is."

Shane playfully patted Rob's back. "Of course that's what you take offense with. His owner never divorced, you know? They settled down and raised kids. No long trips, no Manhattan condos, just rural tranquility. You'd love that life, wouldn't you?"

"Aaargh! Shane! Don't even joke about that! That's terrifying!"

56th Street, Midtown Manhattan, Sunday 7:29 PM

A man with a Golden Retriever entered the tower's lobby, both immediately noticing another Retriever waiting in one of the chairs.

The two approached Brian, who stood up and shook Rob's and Shane's hands formally. "Good evening! How was the trip?"

"Great as always!" Rob answered happily. "Are you ready for the tour, Brian?"

"Carla's already waiting for you two. What do you two think of the lobby, to begin with?"

"It's fine." Shane shrugged. "Working elevators is all I'd ask for, frankly."

"Our current home's lobby has just elevators and the mail boxes, no attendants." Rob informed. "Do I have to worry about them telling my neighbors everything about my routine?"

Brian gave Rob a confused look. "That's a concern? Hopefully they'll take care of their own lives, for professionalism's sake. If they irritate you, just call me and, you know?" Brian gestured a throat slash.

Rob grimaced at the other dog. "Brian! Don't be evil! I'm not gonna use my friendship with you to get my way, that's corruption!"

"I'm just kidding." He waved dismissively. "It's easy to pretend to be evil when you have the power, you know?"

"Also easy to *be* evil too. Shall we go, then?"

"Right, right. Enough talk." Brian turned towards the elevators. "You already have the address, I'm not gonna follow you two. I need to ask something very important of you two, actually." The dog turned back to the other two. "Please pretend it's you two buying the condo, that it has nothing to do with me. Carla will play along with you, she knows this."

"If she knows why do we need to pretend?" Shane asked.

"Uh... She has two... Dogs. They don't know it's me who's buying, make sure they never find that out."

"Why do her pets matter?" Rob questioned this time. "Do they have a say in the deal?"

"Uh, only if it goes *really* badly... Just, don't say anything about me. You can pretend you're buying the place, right, Shane? Or maybe even Rob?"

"I'll be the pretend-buyer." Shane cut in. "I have the experience and a dog looking for real estate with a human following him would be a really weird scenario."

"It happens." Brian shrugged. "There's some extremely unusual family arrangements I've interacted with, might as well try to pretend to be a household with a working dog and a pet human just for kicks."

"That's really weird, Brian!" Rob chuckled. "What do these two dogs have against you, anyways?"

"Aah..." Brian shook his head, giving up. "I'll just tell you, whatever. Their breed's gonna give it away anyways. They're both my daughters, Luke's sisters, you know? They've been acting very rude and arrogant and both me and Carla want to humble them by moving them to a simpler place, far from the big city life."

Rob widened his eyes. "Brian! That's brutal! Do they really deserve that?!"

"It's not as brutal as it'd be for you, knowing you... Actually, maybe it is. Go there and see if they deserve it, you'll see what I mean."

"Alright." Both Rob and Shane started walking towards the elevator. "Are you gonna wait for us here?" Rob asked loudly from the elevator, far from Brian's spot near the chair.

"Nope, sorry! Luke's waiting for me in the garage! Gotta enjoy my last day before being in the office full-time!" Brian headed outside.

Shane and Rob only began conversing again during the elevator ride. "Luke's Brian's son, isn't he?" Shane asked his dog.

"Yeah. Brian got back in contact with him and now loves him to pieces. Looks like things didn't go well with the other two... This is all my dad's fault, by the way. He encouraged Brian to seek his litter back when they both visited me, weeks ago."

"Huh. That's cute."

The two kept a silence. The elevator stopped and a middle-aged man joined the two soon after.

The three remained in silence until the newcomer decided to talk. "Are you two new?" He guessed.

"Yeah." Shane confirmed. "Today we're just visiting the place we're about to buy, we're so new we don't even live here yet."

The human nodded. "Hope you enjoy the place. I'm not fond of it myself, I'm sorry to say."

Shane got a little worried. "Why?"

"It's just not the life I want, living packed like sardines, stuck in a giant cage like this. The location's great for my commute and all the amenities, but I'd love a more open, less oppressive place."

"Oh, alright. I thought you were gonna complain about the maintenance or some serious infrastructural problem. I've lived in a house before, Northern Queens. It was fine but I also don't particularly miss it."

"I'm planning on moving away once I retire. Away from the city, not just this building." Shane almost instinctively grabbed Rob's snout in anticipation. "New York isn't for living, it's just for working. I'm gonna buy some big place in Florida and live my last years there without worries."

"'Without worries'?" Rob began immediately, dodging Shane's subtle attempts at restraining him. "Why would you move to some swampy hellscape that has to be evacuated almost yearly then?" He snarked.

"Uh." The man was taken aback. "That might be a good point, actually. Hurricane seasons are getting worse and worse, maybe that won't be a good deal by the time I retire."

"Don't mind him, please." Shane tried to smile politely. "He's very protective of this city, he can't stand people saying they'd rather live somewhere else."

"He made me consider something that didn't really cross my mind, though. Thanks, dog."

"You're welcome." Rob bowed. "Just find some big house near the Brooklyn beaches. No need to ditch civilization permanently." The ride continued in silence until Rob and Shane arrived at their requested floor.

"Contain yourself, Rob." Shane chided quietly after they got out and the doors closed.

"I just saved that man. Give me some credit... 'Florida'." Rob rolled his eyes dismissively. "More like 'Atlantic Ocean' in a few decades."

"Shh!" Shane shushed. "Be ready!" The two approached the condo's door. "This is our new home, let's go." He buzzed the front door.

The door soon opened. "Shane and Rob, the buyers?" A woman greeted.

"That's us." Shane confirmed formally, not making physical contact during the greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Carla. Mind if we take a look around?"

Carla stepped to the side. "Go ahead, I'm pleased to have you here. Thanks for your offer."

Shane and Rob entered the residence, looking around the living room. Rob trotted towards the room's windows immediately, looking at the view while beaming and wagging.

The apartment's seller closed the door and joined Shane. "Do you want me to present the place? Or are you fine with judging everything by yourself?"

"No need for a house tour, I just wanna check the layout out."

"Be my guest. Uuh... My two daughte- dogs are in their rooms upstairs. Please call me before opening the doors, they might be a little aggressive. You see, they're a little against this deal, but please don't worry about it."

"I'm aware of the circumstances, no worries." He waved dismissively. "I know about the motives for your planned move, Brian told me." Shane told quietly.

"Alright. I've been wanting to move for some time. That dog just, uh, nudged me with an offer way over the market price."

"Yeah. My offer's really nothing compared to the glamour of this place." Shane raised his voice, trying to reestablish the façade for the two unseen dogs. "I suppose that corridor leads to the kitchen?" The two started walking towards the mentioned area, abandoning the living room.

Rob happily circled around the living room, looking at the furniture, the view and the part of the second floor visible from the room's ceiling opening. The dog jogged towards the stairs after being satisfied with his observations, arriving at the second floor and leaning on the railing.

"So, you're the lucky dog, huh?" Rob heard a female voice coming from behind him.

He looked behind him, seeing a Golden Retriever leaving another room and approaching him. He moved away from the railing, mostly due to an instinctive fear of being pushed over it by a stranger. "Hello." Rob greeted casually.

"Everything I appreciate's being suddenly taken away from me, dog." She sighed, leaning against the railing herself. "Hope you enjoy living here. I'll surely miss this place after moving to the shack that Mom's somehow so in love with." Rob started leaning on the railing again, standing by the dog's side. "What's your name?" She asked while trying a polite tone.

"I'm Rob. My owner's talking downstairs, I believe. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm on board with his decision to move, wish things were like that for everyone else in this deal too."

"Life sucks sometimes, oh well. I'm Lisa, where are you from?"

"Uh. Upper West Side." He lied. "Tenth floor apartment there."

"I see. I have some friends there. Too residential for my taste, in my opinion."

"I've lived in worse places." Rob shrugged. "Where are you moving to?"

"Augh! I don't even wanna think about that, but venting to someone might make me feel better. Some suburban city in the Midwest."

"Oh, that sucks. I'm so sorry." Rob sighed.

"If you can convince your owner to not go ahead with his purchase I could offer you some favors, you know?" Lisa looked at Rob seductively. "You're a very fine fellow Golden Retriever pedigree, and rich too. What an exemplary, lucky dog you are." She flirted.

Rob looked away, trying to hide his disgust at the bribe. "Nothing will make me want to not live here, sorry." He replied while looking at the view intently, disguising.

"Worth a try." Lisa dismissed, the two dogs beginning to just silently wait near the railing. "It's this stupid planned neighborhood almost at the city's edge that Mom plans on exiling all of us to." She started ranting after some silence. "A neighborhood so wrapped-up in old real estate prestige that she mentions the neighborhood name more than the city name when talking about it. It's this blissful, serene, halcyon, perfect place and other adjectives that makes it seem like the dullest, most uneventful place in history."

"Haha, that's suburbia in a nutshell. And the people there will never shut up about how you're stupid for not having a backyard and a house surrounded by nothingness for at least ten miles."

"Ugh. I hope it gets overrun by grass and bugs and Mom gives up after realizing all the extra maintenance a house requires when you don't have all the workers like in her summer house. Which she's also selling, by the way! Aaaargh! At least if she moved there it'd be reasonably close to New York!"

"Dang. Can you specify where you're moving, by the way? 'Midwest' is a huge, nonspecific range. I like geography, I wanna see if I know about your future home."

"The city's called River Ridge. The house's in the Babylon Gardens area."

Rob burst out laughing, confusing Lisa. "Hahahaha! Are you serious?! *That* dump?! Was it Bri- Uh, How did she get that idea?"

"I dunno!" She answered, a little offended at the perceived mockery. "What's so funny about that? Does it have a bad reputation?"

"Just remembering some jokes, sorry." Rob smiled, recovering from his laughing. "I know about that place, actually. Started as a pet-friendly residential project back when pets had way less rights, now it's just your typical soulless suburban Americana. It's far from uneventful, by the way. Do you like petnappings? Very active scene there, with many radical animal-separatist groups that sprung up there due to its pet-centric history. If they don't get you you don't need to worry, because that just means you'll be petnapped and fed to an alligator instead, at least ending your miserably boring life. Second most dangerous neighborhood of the fifth worst city to live in Illinois. This is all from meaningless clickbait articles on the Internet, but it doesn't bode well. Have you heard of 'leash laws' by the way? They love that stuff in that neck of the woods."

"What?! Why does Mom-?! Oh, I can't believe this! You're just trying to scare me, aren't you?!"

"No. But your 'mom' clearly is."

"Aargh!" She growled. "I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind right now! I don't think she'll change her mind, but it's not like things can get any worse!" Lisa stormed off downstairs.

Rob chuckled silently, moving to take a look at presumably Lisa's unoccupied bedroom. "Hehe. I might've squandered everything with that sales pitch, but it was worth it." He talked to himself. "Thanks for all the ammo, Bino. Maybe I'll make you a mod after all." Rob silently looked over the room, clearly paying the most attention to what could be seen of the city from the room's windows. Leaving the room, he encountered Shane and Carla talking on the living room's second floor, him deciding to join his owner.

"Did you like the place?" Shane stopped his conversation and turned his attention to the nearing dog.

Rob hugged his waist happily. "I love it, Shane! I love it so much! I can't wait to live here! Thank you so much for finding this place!" He continued pretending. "Thank you, thank you!"

Carla sighed. "Wish my two Retrievers turned out like this too, what a cutie." She petted Rob's head carefully, him accepting it.

"Don't lose hope." Shane encouraged. "Good luck with your new place, you're gonna need it, judging by your dog's outburst there."

"I don't know who told her all that about Babylon, sorry for that. They'll be fine."

"Let's go then, Rob?" Shane patted Rob's shoulder, edging towards the stairs. "Goodbye, Carla!"

The three said their goodbyes and parted ways, Rob and Shane leaving the condo.

"And that was our first time ever seeing our new home, Shane." Rob started as they waited for the elevator. "Savor that moment forever, as I've told you."

"Not like there's any risk of me forgetting about this place if everything goes as planned."

"This place is just so beyond anything I ever expected to live in! I don't even know how to thank Brian!"

"Befriending the rich dog living in the big house finally paid off, huh? Took him long enough."

"Brian wasn't rich, Shane! Stop implying that! His owners educated him by giving him a really low allowance. He's rich now, but that's his own money."

"Money from a job he only got because of his rich family. It's alright though, he's a good dog. And my opinion of him has no relation with him giving me a free house."

"None at all."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really like what you did with this chapter! Please keep it up!
Wortge
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:06 am

Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Sorry about the delay, I'm posting this a few days after I originally intended.

I'm not really feeling too good about this one chapter here, but at least it sets things up for what I believe are better ones. At almost 9K words, it's also the longest one thus far, I think. Try to enjoy.

College Point Dogs Club Internet Forum, The Internet, Tuesday 11:02 PM

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Image mirror: https://mega.nz/file/2zoVRAoS#uW2CbQFHV ... ldgc2CS1gk

College Point Dogs Club, Wednesday 1:15 PM

Rob entered the dog club, smiling widely without even noticing. He checked the present members and started heading towards the Beagle lonely playing the dance cabinet, still trying to select a stage.

"Xan, Xan, Xandy, Xan!" He greeted happily. "Are you having a great 'sesh' today?"

Xander turned to face Rob, a little surprised. "Rob?" He stepped off the machine and shook paws. "Forgot about coming here last week, huh?" Xander smirked while leaning on the machine's bar.

Rob shook his head. "You guys didn't get lonely, did you? I spent a lot of time with Shane last week. After all these months, we had a lot to catch up on, the club could wait for a bit."

"Were you like, playing video games at home or something?"

"Yeah! It's so fun! But nothing compared to our trips to places around the city, which we had to stop doing since March. Last week we drove all the way to Staten Island and after that we just walked around the Seventh while talking about everything!" Rob wagged.

"Isn't it still dangerous for Shane to do that?" Xander asked, some concern in his voice.

"Shane tested positive for antibodies weeks ago, we're free from this stupid plague! Wish the same could apply to the rest of the humans."

"Can't he still get it again or something? I don't think that means he can just run around everywhere and act like everything's normal."

"I wish it was even possible to act like 'everything's normal'! 'The virus is here to stay!' 'The vaccine will be ready in 2100 at best!'" He began to mock. "'In these trying unfortunate unprecedented challenging times check out our ***ty livestream that's totally a great replacement for seeing the real thing!' I'm *so* sick of this! I'm sick of checking websites and being immediately greeted with that blasted 'To limit the spread of COVID-19' banner! I don't wanna ever see the words 'temporarily closed' together again after all of this! And I guess putting the word 'after' in that sentence makes me an optimist, because 'it's here to stay'!"

"Uh, I thought you were enjoying the things that still allowed animals in?"

"I want Shane, Xander! I was OK with that normal for a few months, not the rest of the year! Not to mention how that threatens our Europe trip, and even *our* Japan trip." Rob pointed at himself and Xander. "I know I'm selfish, maybe even a little misanthropic, but this is starting to hurt."

"Is that why you went out with Brian so often after a while? Trying to replace your human?"

"No, that was me helping Brian with forgetting about the club a little, I've told you that already. Having fun going out with someone else is a great side-effect of that strategy though, of course."

The Beagle chuckled. "And it sure worked, didn't it? Jon's our new on-site leader now and Brian's only devoted to his work and his son now."

Rob laughed while covering his face playfully. "The second part is my dad's fault, Xan." He told between giggles. "I love seeing Brian so happy though, I think his paternal instincts were desperate to burst out of him."

"Lucky guy, that Luke. Loved by an extremely rich, almost obsessed father. If this happened one year ago Brian would probably make him help with the club instead."

"Is Jon handling things well, by the way? I believe this is his second day?"

"It really doesn't change anything, he's been doing this for far longer. He's just getting paid now."

"Fair. I guess now you're being supported by both Walt and Jon, then?"

Xander furrowed his brows. "I'm not gonna ask Jon for money, Rob. I never told him to start earning his own money, so I'm not gonna start looking for a job just because I'm suddenly the house's burden or something. I'm hating this current trend of pets finding jobs and wasting their lives away for their 'independence'. Let me enjoy my typical pet life like I've always enjoyed it, please and thank you."

Rob gave some friendly pats to the other dog's shoulder. "Don't worry about that, Xander. I don't have a job either, and hopefully never will, why would I give you trouble for that? It's funny how we two are so against the stuff Brian's involved in."

"Thank dog our relationships aren't professional ones, right? I don't even know who would want to be friends with 'Office Brian', to be frank."

"His eyes start shining once he starts going over the club's statistics, it's even a little endearing. 'Office Brian' isn't that bad of a dog." Rob waited for a response from Xander for some seconds. "Are you gonna continue your game?"

"I'll try to." Xander quickly returned to the arcade's playing area. "How was Boston, by the way?" He asked while browsing the song list. "Brian told me you were there this weekend, I thought you'd mention that instead of Staten Island and even more of Manhattan."

"It was nice. The usual." The Golden Retriever answered stoically. "Did he mention anything else about me?"

Xander paused to think. "Uuh... He was talking about wanting to reward your father or something."

Rob wheezed incredulously. "What?" Xander shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Uh." Rob started hastily before Xander finally decided on a stage to play. "I have very big news, actually. I'm about to move again."

The Beagle widened his eyes in fear, still looking at the game screen and the reaction not being noticed by the other dog. "You- You're not moving to a farm, are you?"

Rob was borderline offended by the guess. "No! What?! I'm moving to Midtown!" He wagged.

"That sounds terrible. Are shorter subway rides really a good reason to live in an apartment the size of a broom closet for you?"

"The new condo's a mansion compared to my current one!" Rob cheered. "It's almost bigger than my old College Point house! Sixty-ninth floor, Xan! You should take a look at the view!"

"Did Shane win a lottery or something? Don't those things rent for like, ten thousand at least?"

"Forget rent! Shane promised to never rent again after we moved from the house, since rent prices are the number one worry when it comes to having to move out of this city. With us actually owning some property in the city, we're never at risk of having to run to some random Scranton somewhere if things go really bad. This new apartment is not only not being rented, but it's also a gift. From Brian!" Rob revealed euphorically.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"Yeah! That little magnate's actually giving us two a multi-million dollar home to live in! Feel free to visit the 'broom closet' once we're settled in, alright? Sometime in August, probably."

"Wow. That's... Early. Best of luck with that, Rob... So while he gives me a VR I don't even use, you get a new house, fair." Xander deadpanned.

"Come on, Xan! Are you seriously jealous? Just ask him for something if you want it. The VR wasn't even for you, or even a gift."

"Just joking, Bro... I mean, Rob. Sorry, force of habit." Xander finally selected something in the game.

"Here we go." Rob leaned his head on the bar not being used by Xander, smirking while looking at the screen. "Is this game still ruining your life?"

He shook his head rapidly. "I've stabilized. No skillboosts but at least I'm not randomly unlearning the game like before." The dog said before the gameplay started. "Wanna see me try some one hundred and thirty BPM thirty-second jumpstreams made with keyboard play in mind? You're in luck." Xander hyped while playing the relatively easy first part of the stage.

"Do you expect me to know what any of that means? Now I know how Grape feels. Do your worst, 'Zentrix'." Rob watched his friend trying to pass the chosen song, his attention switching from the screen to Xander's feet movements from time to time.

The Beagle finished his stage. "Woo! Ninety-four! Anything within a percent of my PB is fine by me."

"Amazing, Xander! You're not even jumping anymore! That combo was nuts too!"

"It's a keyboard file, dude. Just jumps and hands all over the thing. I love trying to manipulate files like that."

"Why don't you just play the game with a keyboard?"

Xander stopped trying to select a new level, pausing to talk but still looking at the screen. "Heh, you're probably the first person to ask that instead of the opposite. Peanut gave me the idea of trying out KB stuff, actually. They ended up being more playable than I thought. It opened up new horizons for me."

"Good luck with your stomping then, Xan." Rob started walking away while giving a single pat to Xander's back as a goodbye. "Let me go over things with the second Brian for once." He talked while walking towards the stairs.

"See you later, Rob!" The Beagle said while already starting another play.

Rob arrived upstairs, seeing Jon talking with a familiar brown-furred dog. The Golden Retriever nonchalantly stood behind the other dog, as if waiting on a line to talk to the cat.

"We might even already have some costumes, actually." Jon continued. "I haven't memorized everything we have in storage yet, they're probably in C5, maybe B3." He struggled to recall.

"I have supplies for everything at home! I already told you." Peanut informed.

"We're not gonna use the paper bags and all the cardboard stuff, Peanut! Forget about it. We have standards, even if we're dogs."

The dog tilted his head. "'We'?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"I think my approach is more ecologically friendly, though. Think about it, Jon."

"Do you know what else is 'ecologically friendly'? Running off to the woods and living like wildlife. I'll spare no expenses in trying to develop your little idea, it's not like we have a lack of budget as an excuse. If we have all the money, can there even be other excuses?"

Rob finally decided to approach Jon's desk, standing by Peanut's side. "Hey, Jon." He cut in. "What's the debate with Peanut here about exactly?"

"Peanut has plans for a LARP session in the club." Jon explained. "I'm going over the costumes and things necessary for some special effects but Peanut keeps insisting on using some magical box he has at home."

"It's not magic(k)al!" Peanut argued. "It just has everything for what we're gonna play in it already!"

"But it's not ideal, not professional. We're the CPDC, we have some prestige."

"No, we don't." Rob interjected, chortling. "What? We're just the tiny dog club from the tiny neighborhood, not an exclusive circle." The Retriever turned to Peanut. "What's your idea again, Peanut?"

The dog shied away a little. "Uh, we're gonna try roleplaying something with the members who want to try it out during some weekday here in the club. I've been thinking of maybe playing out '2001: A Space Odyssey', think of this event as some kind of play but with a lot of metacommentary." He smiled.

"Oh, alright." Rob replied neutrally. "I don't know how you guys can even interpret that pretentious mess of a movie, but you do you." He leaned on the desk with one arm, smirking towards Jon. "Good thing he didn't suggest that with Xander here, right? Imagine him knowing that some of the club members are gonna organize some celebration of a Disney film, he'd veto it hard."

"Uh, 2001 isn't owned by Disney, Rob." Jon pointed out.

"Not *yet*. Nothing wrong with anticipating the inevitable immediate future, right? Xander mocked me once because I said that 'All Dogs Go To Heaven' was made by Disney, who's wrong now, huh?"

"That... Also still isn't owned by Disney."

"Ugh! It's a traditionally animated movie from the nineties, that's honorarily Disney if anything! That film sucks anyways."

The cat smiled a little in surprise. "You don't like 'All Dogs Go To Heaven', Rob? I thought that stuff was universally loved by dogs, even Xander says it's 'OK'."

"Welcome to my second most controversial opinion. It deals with stupid 'Heaven' stuff, escapist nonsense for people who fear death, and I also hate musicals!"

"Do you wanna visit Heaven, Rob?" Peanut friendly offered. "Maybe my ex can help with that still."

Rob jumped back. "What?!"

"Oh! Sorry, sorry! That came out really wrong!" Peanut looked away, giggling.

"Have fun with whatever you two are planning, alright?" Rob concluded, still at a distance from Peanut. "Enjoy your movie 'RP' whenever you decide on doing that. I think we have some astronaut costumes from 'Laika Day' or whatever Brian decided to celebrate some years ago." Rob turned towards the exit. "Best of luck with your new job, Jon."

Jon watched Rob walking away for a moment before deciding to interfere. "Rob! Wait!" The Retriever stopped. "I'm finished with Peanut here already, let's have some leader-to-leader talk."

Rob turned back. "Alright, Jon. I'm almost missing the club talks I used to have with Brian anyways." He talked while approaching the desk again. "*Almost.*" He emphasized while leaning on the desk again, smirking.

"Uh, goodbye to you two, then." Peanut waved goodbye to the two, walking towards the stairs. "Can't wait for our 'Imaginate', guys!" He exclaimed while descending, wagging.

"Are you seriously considering Peanut's idea or are you just avoiding disappointing him?" Rob asked.

"Of course I'm considering it. No room for lies here, we're gonna act out 2001 and see how it goes. Can't deny something if you haven't tried it."

Rob snickered. "There are plenty of ideas I'm willing to never try. I'm fine with that though, some small movie re-enactment, of course I won't join, maybe I'll watch. Yeah! Me and Xander are gonna watch the other dogs struggling with some ancient weird movie and we'll riff on it! That'll be so fun!" He beamed.

"Try to not hurt their feelings when you find out they're not Hollywood actors, please." Jon paused to think. "Uh, thing is, Rob. I've been meaning to talk to you for a really long time, we're really distant despite me being Xander's brother and you being a friend to him since before I was even born."

Rob nodded, grabbing a nearby chair and sitting in front of the desk. "Indeed. I've thought about getting to know Xan's new brother better myself too. Any dark secrets about him that you're aware of?" The dog asked jokingly.

"Let's leave Xander aside, alright? I've just been noticing how close our circumstances are. I just had to almost fight my old family in order to stay living here, and I've heard that you also had some humans trying to move you to far away."

He shook his head dismissively. "I never even came close to running away, your story is a little more hopeless than mine. Shane's wife had ideas of eventually relocating all of us to Omaha, Nebraska. Because New York 'isn't for raising a family' or whatever. I opposed the idea loudly and strongly, Shane protected me from it and had his own reservations himself. It wasn't a complete agreement with only the pet opposing it, like in your case."

"Is that what triggered the divorce?"

"It helped. The divorce started when she lost control and brought up sending me to a shelter during a small argument."

"Wow, he's that protective? I almost envy that."

Rob chuckled. "Eh... I'm no saint in this affair, Jon. I kinda exaggerated my reaction to her suggestion. I knew it'd be impossible without his consent, but I pretended I took it really seriously and cried in his arms in fear. He was so outraged he never slept with her again after that, but he sadly mellowed out a little as the process dragged on."

"'Sadly'?"

"Yeah! Like, why can't he just forget her?! I don't know what he saw in her, she barely likes traveling! They're still close friends after everything, and I try my hardest to keep my instincts in check when I end up seeing her."

"What about the baby? Did it let you sleep?"

"It was fine, didn't really pay too much attention to the thing."

"Oh, Rob! You're living my life on 'easy mode'! There wasn't even a fight necessary for you to keep living here in the center of the universe then?"

"'Center of the universe'?" Rob repeated incredulously. "No need to idealize this place like that, please. In the end, New York's just some city, but it's a city that beats Omaha."

"And we're both sticking around, alright?" Jon giggled. "We gotta celebrate it! Don't take living here for granted, who knows when Walt will suddenly have some bad experience and decide that he'd rather live in some village and Xander will be all like 'Yeah man, whatever, as long as I can move my PC to the new house it's all good.' and here I go again trying to keep my roots here."

"Haha, I don't think Xander would react like that. We're all safe. Walt's a homeowner, isn't he?"

"I believe, but so was Garfield. Things can-"

"Whoa, whoa!" Rob interrupted. "Your old owner's name was 'Garfield'?" He chuckled.

"Yes, he named me after the human in the Garfield comics." Jon feigned some impatient indignation. "I lucked out with my name, alright? When you notice people like Wolf and Grape exist."

"Sorry. I never made the connection before, I don't think I've ever heard his name."

"That's what I mean by us being too distant despite everything. As I was saying: All it takes is one traumatic event for someone to go all 'New York sucks, I'm moving to a place where this never happens!' and ruin someone else's life with that decision."

"That wasn't Shane's ex-wife's case. She was just attached to her old family, she only moved here for college."

"Yeah... New York wasn't kind to the two, I'll be frank." Jon looked down, melancholically. "One of the few things I can remember from my first days, back in Texas, was how romanticized their idea of the big city was. This place of 'opportunity' where you're never bored and life's a constant adventure."

"They might be right with the 'constant adventure' part. I just don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing. Big city people idealize the rural life a lot too, though. It's this place of absolute peace and beauty where you never worry about others trying to take advantage of you. In the end it's just a case of personal preference. My abrasive and 'elitist' opinions on farm life are honestly just a result of how arrogant the country folk tend to be, always going on about how cities will collapse any day now because everyone will have a collective epiphany and realize that having nothing to do outside is worth it for not hearing constant car sounds anymore. As if trees rustling and birdsongs are any better. We have anechoic chambers in big cities, you know? Try finding that in your precious forest."

"Preaching to the choir, Rob. Let me test your geography skills here."

Rob waited for Jon to continue the sentence. "Go ahead."

"Tell me about the town I'm from, and that I almost moved back to. Are your Texas skills up for it?"

"Uuh. Odessa? San Angelo? Plainview? Laredo? San Anto-" Rob guessed, rapid-fire.

"Kingsville." Jon interrupted.

"Oh, that's... Going from Corpus Christi towards the Mexican border, isn't it? I've been to Corpus Christi, never beyond."

"Yeah, around there. I had to actually look it up on Google when they started talking about it again, early this year. I was praying it was gonna be some Houston suburb, at least, but nope! It's an absolute wasteland."

"Could be worse, Jon. Much worse. I was thinking you were going to some hamlet in the dead center of the state. The kind of place where all you get are farms with hicks who never shut up about 'blue states' or whatever. Not to mention the constant complaints about California, Texas's main sport! Meanwhile California barely remembers the thing exists."

Jon chuckled. "No mentions of California, they just wanted to come back to the rest of their family too."

"Aah, family! Good excuse. Hopefully it goes both ways too, because I believe both of us have very extended families living here."

"We do?"

"I do. And your family is Xander's, he does too."

"Oh, right. Let me get used to that."

"Take your time. Xander's owner has three live Grandparents, all living within the city. His parents moved to some Brooklyn apartment and left their house to him, which he traded for a smaller one still in College Point for some extra money. You have a lot of things 'anchoring' you here, I guess."

"I guess. Plenty of people for Walt to miss."

"And for Xander to miss. You think that Beagle wouldn't cry every night for not being around here anymore? That cynical façade of his crumbles easily, you should know that."

"Hahaha, I sure do! He actually misses his litter a lot, I've known."

"We all do, don't we? As pets, humans expect to breed us around and then scatter us all around, completely eroding our family ties, thinking it doesn't affect us at all because it happens at a very young age and the parents accept the fact they won't raise their kids. I think we all end up suppressing a lot of bad feelings coming out from those conditions, right?"

Jon furrowed his eyebrows. "Not really... I miss my biological family about as much as any other random pet I remember seeing when I was still a kitten. Do you have something suppressed, Rob?"

"I don't. I visit my family sometimes, mostly my parents and my sister. My parents weren't randomly bred, they fell in love, moved to the same house and decided to raise a litter. Who were given to nearby families and constantly visited by them. Apart from Hobart, but that was after a couple of months."

"What's special about him?"

"Visited some family acquainted with his new adoptive family in a rural area upstate and absolutely fell in love with the place. The humans and my parents were OK with just letting him live there."

"You mean to tell me that he managed to transfer his ownership as a pup? Dang, and I thought I was being too entitled for choosing another home."

"Of course he didn't do all the transferral paperwork and stuff. He just demanded his owners to go back there over and over, in the typical puppy-like way."

"That just sounds even more entitled. Imagine me whining constantly, telling my parents to go back to Texas. Even at that age I knew that I wasn't in a place to control where I lived."

"And now you are. Regretting not moving with them already?"

"Never. And they haven't moved yet."

"And neither has Sar- Shane's old wife. Are these people really gonna move out of New York or are they just bluffing?"

"Maybe they just can't bring themselves to do it. Maybe they're waiting for all the virus stuff to blow over. Wish they would hurry though. I know I shouldn't be thinking like this, but I still have some fear of somehow going back to how everything was before I left, and the only way that fear will disappear is knowing that Mom and D- My old owners are far away on the other side of the country."

"You're safe, Jon. Keep your mind off that, alright?" Rob stood up. "It was fun talking to you by yourself for once. I'm gonna visit Xan some other day in his own house, so expect me visiting you soon." The Retriever edged leaving the room.

"Wait!" Jon exclaimed, making Rob stop and look at him. "Just one more thing. Xander told me that just like me, not only you lived with a baby and almost had to move away, but also had some self-esteem issues because of the burden you put on your owner for spending so much of his money while not working. Can you tell me about that?"

Rob gave him a brief confused look, leaning on the desk before starting to speak again. "It doesn't bother me at all, actually. Sometimes I say something about me doing nothing other than enjoying life with no responsibilities, but it's just self-deprecation, not some hidden guilt. Shane can sustain me easily, I don't need to help him with money, he loves me, I love him, it's all fine."

"Oh, alright."

"I was feeling kinda guilty these past months, because of me just going out to a bunch of touristy stuff, restaurants, unexplored parts of the city, all without Shane, because of the pandemic. And after a while I started feeling really bad for him, stuck at home or slaving away at his 'essential' work. Everything got sorted out now though, we just came back from a pretty cool quick trip to Boston."

"Good to hear, Rob. I'm glad that doesn't bother you anymore."

"And Brian just gifted us an amazing condo!" Rob suddenly beamed. "Things are so good right now for me! Nothing can possibly ruin it! Not even me tempting fate like this!"

"Please, Rob! Be very careful with that! Especially this year!"

"Oh, shut up about this 'year' stuff! Nothing that's happening right now is only happening because we decided to call 2019 '2020' eventually."

"Right, uh, sorry."

"Done with talking about our lives, Jon? Do you have something to say about the club?"

Jon thought for a little. "Uh, do you object to a possible renaming of the club?"

"Renaming?"

"'College Point Dogs Club' implies this is a club for College Point Dogs, which is not true. How about 'College Point Dog Club'? Which just tells this is a dog club located in College Point?"

"Uuh... It's been years with this name, Jon, I don't think we can just switch it like that now. Talk with Brian about that, alright? I abstain from this decision."

The tabby nodded. "Fair enough. What about 'Flushing Dogs Club'?"

"Why? We're not in Flushing."

"It's a more well-known neighborhood. Some people assume all of this is just Flushing."

"Too big of a change. And not geographically correct. I outright oppose this one."

"Alright. Just be aware that the plural in the club name might be going away soon, then."

"Did that guy from the forums give you this idea?" Rob leaned closer to Jon.

"Uuh..." The cat shied away. "Yeah. He made me think about the naming, as silly as that dog is."

"Don't mind Bino, Jon. He's just an acquaintance of a club member, and he lives very far away."

"Isn't he moving here? Some member I've never heard of mentioned that in a thread and he acted like he knew them and it was the truth."

Rob shrugged. "Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Still, New York is a big place, it's very unlikely he'll move to this specific region of Queens."

"Alright, Rob. It was good talking to you."

"Same, Jon." Rob again turned towards the exit. "Hope you enjoy your work! Walt loves you, remember that! You're a family member, nothing you give back to him comes close to just your love and appreciation! Not even Brian's money!" He advised while leaving slowly and descending the stairs.

Jon sighed. "A bit too late for that, Rob." He muttered to himself. "Whatever, let's try to enjoy this task as much as possible." The cat opened one of the desk's drawers and grabbed Xander's barely-used Switch console, booting it up and lounging on the chair, putting his legs on the desk.

'Cats of Queens' Discord Server, Wednesday 10:16 PM


ZentrixSM Today at 10:16 PM
Just finished Minecraft
the game's alright, tbh
despite its reputation


NateA9 Today at 10:16 PM
finished?
it never ends


ZentrixSM Today at 10:17 PM
That's what I thought too
I mean I got to the credits
put the fires on the pearls, completed the portal and killed the poor dragon
that's what I mean


NateA9 Today at 10:18 PM
I understand
now you should go to the end again to search for an elytra


ZentrixSM Today at 10:18 PM
An what now?
I don't know if I'll come back to the game after all this
I know the thing's a sandbox and "beating" it by reaching the credits doesn't mean anything
but I've had enough
I didn't even know all the alternate dimensions existed and stuff
never really bothered with the game after playing the alpha for a week or so


NateA9 Today at 10:20 PM
yeah, you're ancient
the ender dragon was added in 2011
it's older than me


ZentrixSM Today at 10:21 PM
You know what the funny thing is?
Someone on the internet called be a "kid" once because I didn't know *** about Minecraft
and at that moment I realized that Minecraft of all things was already considered nostalgic to some people
like, I was there when youtube was suddenly taken over by people recording themselves playing that game for hours
and kids eating that garbage up
And now these same kids are calling me young for not growing up like that
Youtube didn't even exist during my puppyhood, son


NateA9 Today at 10:22 PM
ok boomer
didn't you join us here in the Discord for that Revenge meme last year?
thought you were ok with that
with that minecraft subculture


ZentrixSM Today at 10:23 PM
I did it ironically
I thought people were mocking the fact someone rewrote the lyrics of a pop song to be about Minecraft
not celebrating it
and calling it part of their puppyhoods when it was released in like, 2010
childhoods*


NateA9 Today at 10:23 PM
just say 'kittenhoods'


ZentrixSM Today at 10:24 PM
Nah, childhood is very species-neutral
it's not just cats that grew up with Minecraft, of course


NateA9 Today at 10:29 PM
good games we had at mario kart today, by the way, zentrix
almost forgot to bring that up
I thought you hated that game for not being a super accurate simulator featuring real cars and realistic circuits


ZentrixSM Today at 10:30 PM
I don't hate it, I just ignore it
why do people always mix these two up when it comes to me?
really not a fan of the forced drifting, don't know why the Japanese love that *** so much
And I also didn't play that today
am I getting my identity stolen now?
am I relevant enough for that?


NateA9 Today at 10:31 PM
you're the one who sent the request
you were in some races during this afternoon
'Zentrix', united states flag, mii was a very generic brown dog
was that really not you?


ZentrixSM Today at 10:32 PM
oh
Jon is using my Switch now
during his work
that was probably him
I'm grateful he didn't switch my Mii to a cat one
because he'll definitely do that once he gets the idea
You have a Switch now?
weren't you complaining about not having one some weeks ago?
trying to get some pity points


NateA9 Today at 10:33 PM
did it really come across as pity-fishing?
I got one, now that it's been years
pretty funny story about it, actually
one of my irl friends has a super rich biological father
who's trying to get closer to him now for some reason
he ended up gifting that friend an extra switch console
and the friend just gave it to me


ZentrixSM Today at 10:34 PM
hahaha, that's cool, Nate
Hope you enjoy the thing
who's that friend, by the way?
sorry for prying, but the "rich dad trying to get closer" part hits close to home for me


NateA9 Today at 10:35 PM
His name's Luke
online friend, actually
but he lives in Jersey, so I can visit him sometimes


ZentrixSM Today at 10:36 PM
oh
oh no
and his father's name?


NateA9 Today at 10:36 PM
what's with the reaction?
his father is named Brian
only met him once
but Luke doesn't shut up about him since they met, so it's easy to remember


ZentrixSM Today at 10:37 PM
oh NO
rofl
this is just silly
I didn't know you were friends with dogs, Nate
aside from me, if you think of me as one


NateA9 Today at 10:38 PM
Luke is NOT a dog, Xander
Where are you getting that idea from?


ZentrixSM Today at 10:38 PM
Really? You're going to try to lie like that?
don't tell me you're ashamed of it
afraid of some "honorary dog" jokes? Jon's been getting some now and he doesn't care


NateA9 Today at 10:40 PM
you don't know anything about Luke
I am not friends with a dog
especially secretly


ZentrixSM Today at 10:41 PM
sure
I guess it's just another Luke
another Luke with a Brian as a father
the Brian being super rich and trying to befriend that Luke
another Luke who also lives in New Jersey
come on now
but I'll stop
if you're not comfortable with pets knowing about your dog friend, I won't bring it up anymore


NateA9 Today at 10:43 PM
alright
Luke is a dog
sorry for mocking dogs whenever I get a chance
they can be really good friends, what can I say?


ZentrixSM Today at 10:43 PM
feel free to mock dogs all you want, I do it too
but come on now
You know of a rich dog named Brian and you think I won't recognize that?
I even mention him here sometimes
Brian's the founder of the local dog club here and also my best friend
I've met Luke in person, even.


NateA9 Today at 10:43 PM
I asked Brian where he was from and he didn't say College Point
isn't that where your little club is?
he also told me he ran a dog club, too


ZentrixSM Today at 10:44 PM
you're friends with Brian's son and thought you could pretend that he's a cat with me, that's precious
Brian lives in Whitestone, it's very close to the club building
he lives in the part with all the mansions, right next to College Point
you know, being "super rich" and all
Malba, it's called


NateA9 Today at 10:45 PM
that's the name he said, alright
turns out even my friends outside of this server end up being very connected to it
is Brian gifting you all the cool stuff you have?
now your apparent wealth makes sense


ZentrixSM Today at 10:45 PM
Nope. Brian hasn't gifted me all the consoles, RPGs and PC I have
That's all from my owner
Brian has recently gifted one of his close friends an insane gift though
but that might be too personal to bring up here


NateA9 Today at 10:47 PM
alright
what's Minecraft's "Xander Rating" by the way?
going back to the topic at hand
at paw
screw you all, now even I'm accidentally using human language


ZentrixSM Today at 10:48 PM
uh
5.8, I'd say
decently over the average


NateA9 Today at 10:49 PM
What would get a 10 from you?


ZentrixSM Today at 10:49 PM
Nothing
10/10 is literal perfection
it's an idealized score


OldArch Today at 10:56 PM
hey gamers
Just dropping in here to warn in advance that a new member is joining
very soon
so be in your best behavior
for at least a few minutes
They might be your future best friend, who knows?
Don't ruin things for everyone by trying to be funny
or else


N3rveX Today at 10:57 AM
Alright
we'll give them a warm welcome


OldArch Today at 10:58 PM
please don't
just pretend they've been here for years already
he* by the way


ZentrixSM Today at 10:59 PM
he has no style


OldArch Today at 11:00 PM
xander pls


MEE6 [BOT] Today at 11:00 PM
@CatnipJones58#9302 Has joined the server! Welcome!


ZentrixSM Today at 11:00 PM
drug name in nick, good start
420 and stuff my dude


OldArch Today at 11:00 PM
XANDER!
don't make me unironically kick you


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:01 PM
sup guys
thanks for letting me in, Spline
I'll be with you all in person in a few weeks
still living here on the other side of the country, as of right now
but I'll be in Queens soon
and changing the server name to "Cats of Queens and Illinois" won't be necessary


N3rveX Today at 11:02 PM
Best of luck with your move, Jones
it's nice to meet you


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:02 PM
name's Max, by the way
thank you
New York better be all it's hyped up to be


N3rveX Today at 11:02 PM
it isn't
but it's livable


ZentrixSM Today at 11:03 PM
Good night, Max
how's life going?
how did you find us?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:03 PM
hey, hey. If it isn't the one and only Xander
I've heard things about you
from a user from here I know
thank you for being a friend to them
that's how I found this place, by knowing someone already here
and my life's going just fine
never thought I'd be moving this year
or ever
but my idea of moving to nyc to be next to some very close friends again started getting more and more possible to my dad
especially this last week
some rich woman wants to move to our house immediately
and she's willing to just throw money at us until we move
it went from someting impossible, to something that might happen in the coming years, now it's something that we must do as soon as possible
kinda weird, really


N3rveX Today at 11:04 PM
Really?
that person probably has some sinister reasons for wanting to move so fast
be careful with that money


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:04 PM
no, we know why she's hurrying
I have a lot of things to worry about already
let's not add that to the list


GrapeJS Today at 11:05 PM
Yeah
you have "things to worry about" alright
Max, check DMs
right now
go


OldArch Today at 11:05 PM
Grape! Why are you doing that?
things were going so well here


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:05 PM
I know her, chill
see you all later, cats


ZentrixSM Today at 11:06 PM
cya


NateA9 Today at 11:06 PM
that wasn't for you


ZentrixSM Today at 11:06 PM
shut it


Grape and Max's Direct Messages, Discord, Wednesday 11:06 PM


Grape Today at 11:06 PM
alright
Just explain what you're trying to do with this little stunt
is it somehow some kind of very convoluted prank on Bino?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:07 PM
not at all
how would that even work?
I'm just trying to get to know some of the locals before moving to my new place
avoid going through everything you were complaining about back when you moved


Grape Today at 11:07 PM
You're actually moving?
you never told me anything about it
aren't you just coming here for christmas?
surely, you're not hiding this from me, are you?
since you just told my online friends about it


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:08 PM
You needed a surprise, alright?
Jeff's moving to new york
the city, even, not just the state
guess what borough, by the way?


Grape Today at 11:08 PM
Do I even need to guess?
you didn't decide to invade 'Cats of Brooklyn' too, did you?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:08 PM
does that exist?
but yeah, I'm moving to Queens
Astoria
we won't be living as close as we were back in our BG days
but at least it won't be hours of travel
unless new york traffic is as bad as it's hyped up to be


Grape Today at 11:09 PM
It's surprisingly calm
but I think the pandemic spoiled me a little
what a weird thing to say
but this still makes no sense
you gave me no indication of this ever happening
just today we were talking about Bino's club
and you said it was just the usual mess
wouldn't it be very shaken up by Bino having to leave?
he is leaving, right?
the universe can't be perfect to the point of only you moving here with no caveats


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:10 PM
it's us three moving
Bino's a little in denial
but it's already common knowledge in the club
and there's some squabbles there over everything
but that's the "usual mess" isn't it?


Grape Today at 11:11 PM
this is all barely processing to me right now
you're really moving here, then?
this is so sudden
if it's really true, I can't wait
as soon as you're here you're gonna sleepover in my house for a week
forget about space, we're gonna sleep together in the living room sofa


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:11 PM
Grape!
I can't wait! that'd be lovely!
at this rate it'll be the buyer and me both trying to make Jeff hurry the move


Grape Today at 11:12 PM
could you clarify the details about this move?
because until today, you've been acting like you'll spend the rest of your life in babylon
I even brought up your christmas visit a few days ago
are you moving after that?
or did you only know about the plans after that talk?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:12 PM
I'll explain everything
everything was supposed to be a secret to you, at least
I really wanted to just randomly show up at your front door one day
and tell you I was living close to you again
but it's kind of an impossible plan
you could be not at home that day, for example
I ended up mentioning things accidentally while playing online with Nate some days ago
and then OldArch
and at this point I figured I'd just join the good ol cats online club


Grape Today at 11:14 PM
Please never draw that parallel again
what's bringing you to NY, then?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:14 PM
NY(C), baby!
important distinction
I gave dad the idea just days after you two left
his answer was a predictable "maybe, but don't count on it"
then we all just forgot about it
but recently he started mentioning to me some job offers coming from new york
again, just a distant possibility
things then really picked up this month
dad wanted to move to another house here in the gardens
and started listing ours for selling
a buyer appeared pretty fast
someone who's willing to buy the house for way more
granted we leave very soon
apparently some very wealthy woman who could just afford this house ten times over
and her landlord or something wants her to move out immediately
after some debate with me, we both decided to move to new york instead of to a better babylon house
with the extra cash we actually can afford a good place there
because, let me tell you
you new yorkers make it really hard to move there
how did your parents even afford that house you live in?
if it were in the gardens it'd be one of the most humble houses here, but in New York it seems like having more than two rooms is a luxury


Grape Today at 11:17 PM
we don't live in a central area
people here have to either take a bus to get to the subway or have their own cars
and that devalues things a little
at least that's what Rob told me
it's still more expensive than Babylon Gardens, though


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:18 PM
And I've heard Peanut's now a pro at using the subway, right?


Grape Today at 11:18 PM
He's having some fun, yeah
I'm following him more and more in his little adventures too
with you going out with us, I might even get more of my old life back
oh, maxie
hurry up with your move, alright?
now even I want to rush things too


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:19 PM
see you in person in a few weeks
I'll make the exact day a surprise, ok?
but remember I'm coming and cheer yourself up


Grape Today at 11:20 PM
Does Peanut know this?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:20 PM
maybe
I mentioned things in the college point dog club forums too


Grape Today at 11:20 PM
what???
you told even the dog club about it before telling me???
Max, you might want to avoid me for a few days after you move at this point


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:21 PM
Nope! I don't care if you want to smack me, I'll visit you first and foremost


Grape Today at 11:21 PM
You better
good luck with the move, then
how's everyone back home dealing with it?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:22 PM
they're fine
who's even left for me here?
Marvin is busy with his dog brother
Sabrina is busy with Tarot
you know what tarot's been like already
Fido and Fox are busy with their jobs
Bino is wasting his life with his club
Zach is boyfriends with a wild possum living in the reserve, did you know that?


Grape Today at 11:23 PM
what???
rofl
that's
um
I shouldn't judge, sorry
love is love, etc


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:23 PM
You really shouldn't, considering your relationship with Peanut
how's sharing a bedroom with him now, by the way?
can't believe I've never asked you that


Grape Today at 11:24 PM
it's great
I love that dog, Max
and once we're all together again
we'll all snuggle while watching tv
just like old times


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:24 PM
we will
I'm asking that because
you know
Bino
the new house has only two bedrooms
so we might share a room
but most likely I'll just sleep with Jeff


Grape Today at 11:25 PM
What about Bino sleeping with him?
are you the favorite pet?


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:25 PM
I guess
we're not exactly fighting for his love
Bino doesn't want his love, if anything
but it's hard for Bino to be Jeff's favorite
considering his abrasive general attitude


Grape Today at 11:26 PM
yeah


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:26 PM
I worry about him
a lot
you see
as much as he tries to hide it
pretty badly, I must say
Bino really misses Peanut
and now, losing his club
I don't know what will happen to him
if anything happens
I might have myself to blame


Grape Today at 11:27 PM
We'll work things out, alright?
hope to see your face around here soon, then
please tell big things like that to me before telling them to all of your acquaintances first
you can leave the day of your move a secret, I don't care
I want to be surprised at this point


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:28 PM
I will!
of course the people here in the gardens will know about it
so try to avoid talking to them after a week or so


Grape Today at 11:28 PM
after a week, huh?
spoiling things a little already
well
good luck with everything, Maxwell
I'll be waiting for you
gtg now
Peanut wants to play some board game he just got
and he's now starting to whine a little while waiting for me
also trying to hide that from me
it's the cutest thing
right, see you later
logging out


CatnipJones58 Today at 11:30 PM
see you later, grape
Last edited by Wortge on Thu Jul 30, 2020 1:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really nice job as usual! I was wondering when you were gonna get back to this!
Wortge
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Feb 29, 2020 11:06 am

Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Astoria Park, Astoria, Queens, Friday, August 7 2020, 5:29 AM

Shane's silver sedan stopped next to a two-story duplex on the street bordering the park, Rob stepping out of the car and closing the door.

"Goodbye, Shane!" The dog waved a single time to his owner. "See you on Sunday! Good luck with all the moving!"

"Have a good trip, Rob!" The human exclaimed from the car before closing the windows and departing.

"I'll try to." Rob muttered, turning towards the duplex's left half, climbing the stoop and ringing the doorbell. "Oh, well. It's better than nothing... Probably." He grumbled while waiting.

The door opened to a very familiar Golden Retriever. "Mooooom!" Rob dragged out while approaching her, arms wide. The two hugged, Rob squishing her with his arms and continuously nuzzling her chest. "I love you! So good to see you again!"

The mother got out of the hug gently, petting her son's head while closing the door again. "Oh, Robbie. Glad to see you being the perpetual puppy as usual."

Rob laughed a little. "It's been getting worse the past few days, thanks to all the excitement." He talked while making his way to the sofa, seeing his father lying there. "I'll calm down, sorry. Hey, dad." He held up an arm formally while greeting Buster, sitting down on the sofa's unoccupied area.

"Nope, nope, nope!" Buster cut in, embracing Rob from his position, forcing him to lie on the sofa and cuddle with his father. "Leave that boring, serious act for your friends! With us two, we want the real Robbie!" The two adjusted their bodies until both could watch the television and snuggle at the same time.

"Oh, Dad! Are you looking forward to our little outing? I just wish it were somewhere more interesting, but I know seeing Hobart matters more to you than just going to a cool place." The mother joined the three while Rob talked, Rob and both of his parents now all cuddling on the sofa.

"Of course I am, Son. You should look forward to it too, you haven't seen Hobart in a very long time."

"It's his fault for wanting to be in the middle of nowhere. I hope having nobody in his life is worth it for all the trees and fish and whatever else he loves in that hole."

"He has a lot of people in his life, Robbie. First of all: Us." Buster pointed to himself and the two. "But disregarding his faraway biological family. His two guardians and all their three kids love him. And to think they didn't even want a dog before he begged to live with them."

"Ugh." Rob grimaced. "Humans are idiots and human children are even worse. Don't compare his hillbillies to us, please."

"Rob!" His mother scolded, grabbing his scruff teasingly. "Don't say that! What about Shane?! You love him, don't you? If there's a problem with him, tell us immediately! Remember that!"

"There's no problem, Mom. Chill." He shook his head, leaning closer to her. "Of course I love Shane, he might as well not be a human for me. But then there's the humans who assume I can't take care of myself and it's so annoying! Not to mention I can't go to any rural place without being pestered with 'Don't you think you should move here for a happier, calmer life, doggy?' all the time! And then it's us 'city folk' who are elitist! As if I have ever come up to some redneck and started preaching to them that they should move to New York because we have shiny buildings!"

"Are you afraid our visit will be like that?" The mother rubbed her son's head slowly, him returning the affection by rubbing his head against her body. "I can keep them away from you, I know how annoyed you are by these suggestions to move away from the city."

"No need to, Mom, please. I can avoid people by myself, don't worry... It's just that you mentioned them as if they're doing a good job at replacing you two, even though they're just some boring folk who managed to steal Hobart from us and think they can do the same to me every time they see me... And considering my recent experiences with Shane's wife, I might be being a little more abrasive than usual about all of this, sorry. I don't hate the rural life, I really don't. I just don't want it to be my life."

"It's fine, Robbie. Don't think you're getting away from us so easily! How's she doing, by the way?"

"Finally moved back to her parents' place! I told Dad about that already. Let's just forget about that unfortunate chapter of my life."

"You should still keep contact, Son." His father piped in. "She's part of your family still, no matter what a piece of paper says."

"Isn't marriage also the result of a piece of paper?" Rob chuckled. "Even if I wanted to, we both burned our bridges completely already. I don't think any type of positive contact with her is still possible, just give up on that, Dad."

"Seriously." Rob's mother playfully hit the back of Buster's head. "Why do you defend that human so much? She almost took our Robbie away from us! And then to have the audacity of threatening to send him to a shelter! I'm so sorry all of that happened, Son!" She hugged Rob briefly. "Don't listen to your dad, cut Sarah from your life. I agree with that one hundred percent."

"Everyone has their outbursts, don't take that so seriously." Buster shrugged. "She obviously never intended on giving Rob away. And I'd love traveling to Nebraska sometimes in order to visit Robbie, it surely beats Lake George. But only if Rob was fine with living there, of course."

"Haha! And that's not happening!" Rob played. "When will we be ready?" He asked after some silent TV-watching.

"Elliot's preparing the car in the garage, go check up on him if you wanna know that." His father answered.

"I'll let that be a surprise then." Rob disregarded.

"How was Boston, Robbie?" His mother asked suddenly after some more silence.

"It was the usual. Redid a lot of the stuff I've done there in the past, since I've been there over and over. Of course after being stuck in New York for months I'm now a pro at managing to enjoy things I've done already."

"And how are the Europe plans?"

"The tickets are ready. How restricted Shane's gonna be when visiting some countries for leisure as an American human, that's still up in the air."

"Chances of cancellation, or at least a rescheduling?"

"Mom! Don't even mention that! Hopefully, very little. Shane hasn't mentioned anything that severe."

"You can't just ignore things. You might be endangering Shane, you know? If he dies, it won't be just a year of no more travels, it'll be forever!"

"Mom! He won't die, he's young! What the howl... November is still quite some time away. In October we'll be able to safely assume what the world will be like by then, not now."

"Alright. I have to open your eyes in some way, you know? You keep treating the quarantine as if it's the government just deciding to make things harder for Shane for no reason. That's not the case, it's for his safety. Always remember that, my treasure."

"Aw Mom!" Rob whined while hugging his mother tighter. "I hate this current normal! It sucks so much! I just wanna see someplace new!"

"You're gonna travel literally today, Robbie." She petted his head slowly. "You shouldn't be feeling so bad for not going to new places, this is bordering on addiction."

"I keep having these nightmares where I'm traveling abroad! I hate it!"

"Uh, what? Wouldn't these be good dreams?"

"No! Because they end with me waking up and realizing I'm still stuck here! Not to mention when it's a longer, more lucid dream, and I'm visiting some far-off country I wanna go to but then, since it's a dream, I realize that I can't remember how I got to places and I can't remember even the plane ride and I just start feeling this horrible dread because I know that I'm forgetting huge chunks of my vacation and I don't know why." Rob started to ramble. "So it's just a dream where I keep warping to random places and I feel like the whole thing's being wasted because I can't remember anything and, well... I guess in that case, it could be a nightmare."

Buster leaned closer to Rob and decided to enter the conversation. "So people have nightmares where their loved ones die, people have nightmares where monsters are hunting them down and trying to kill them. Meanwhile, your nightmares consist of you going on a trip and being unable to enjoy it properly?"

"Yeah! At least it's original, alright?"

"Oh, Rob!" Buster gave a quick rub to his son's head and stood up. "You're such a character! I'm gonna go check on Elliot now, be right back."

"See you, Dad!" Rob waved from the sofa and his mother's hug. "Is Elliot healthy enough to drive?" He asked her after some time.

"What do you mean? He's not sick."

"I mean, his age. Is he agile enough for all the driving? I've never traveled with him before, you two always used my adoptive family for that."

"He's healthy. Don't worry about it, Son."

"Alright." Rob turned his attention towards the TV. "What are you even watching? I can barely hear anything. It's just some drone shots, is it the TV demo?"

"No, it's actually a documentary. Nobody was really paying attention, we're all just waiting for the car to be ready."

"Uh, right."

"Do you know the place that's being shown right now?"

"Of course! It's Munich. There's the Isar." Rob pointed at a river. "In that island there there's a museum, I've been there. And you can see Frauenkirche in the distance, making it extremely obvious."

"Wow, Robbie. This program actually has a voiceover describing everything, see if you can compete with him." She raised the TV's volume.

"Hah! Let's do it then!" The son smirked. "That's a view from a little more to the north, you can see the English Garden there, it's the main park. Those twin glass towers in the distance are right next to the start of Autobahn Nine, which goes all the way to Berlin. Passed right next to them a few times, you can also faintly see Allianz Arena. There's this hill that's next to it which has just a single windmill on its top..." Rob continued describing rapidly.

Warren County Route 11 East, Bolton, New York, Friday 10:15 AM

The SUV drove along the small rural highway, countless trees surrounding it. An elderly man sat on the driver's seat while three Golden Retrievers sat on the backseat.

"It's the final stretch." Rob broke the silence. "That was fun, how about we turn around and head back to the city now?" He attempted to joke.

"At least make eye contact with your brother first, Robbie. I've heard he lives around here, let's take advantage of that." Buster continued the joke.

"Just for you, Dad... I just can't imagine visiting this place as a pup and suddenly thinking 'Yeah! This is what I wanna see for the rest of my life!' What a weird dog." Rob spat.

"Stop that already, Rob. Respect your sibling's choices." His father admonished.

"I respect them, I just don't understand them... Speaking of siblings, I forgot to ask, why isn't Kessie coming this time?"

"She has work today. And you know she hates nature even more than you do, it's for the best."

"I don't *hate* nature! I just don't wanna live in it! And she's working now? Are you kidding me? She fell for that stupid trend? What a shame."

"It helps her, it helps her owner. She's even fine with it, she told me she loves it."

"She's just wasting her life away with that stuff. We already live shorter lives than humans, now they also want to make us throw away a third of it to help fix their broken economy."

"All of your comforts depend on humans and pets 'throwing their lives away', Robbie. You should appreciate it, at least."

Rob facepalmed and sighed. "You're right, Dad. I'm so lucky. Everything I enjoy depends on someone slaving away in order to provide me that. And I only give them money as compensation, which Shane just gives to me for free anyways."

Buster put an arm around his son. "That's exactly right. I'm not telling you to start working. But if everyone acted like you wanted, we'd be all living in the woods, roaming around the continent in family packs hunting for food and living ten years in average."

"That's horribly dystopian. Which is my least favorite genre, by the way."

"You must be hating what's going on this year, then."

"It's not 'dystopian', please. Not even for the humans, even. Civilizations are still working."

"Will it be 'dystopian' if your November trip's cancelled?"

"Agh! It'd be my personal dystopia, at least."

"Having to spend November stuck in your incredible Manhattan palace instead of driving around Europe. What a terrible life." Buster deadpanned playfully.

"It's too much, Dad! It's been years since I've left the country. And honestly, as amazing as the view from there is, I'll be seeing a city that I've been seeing for decades. I think the novelty of the view will wear off in less than a week. But I'll still appreciate how sleek the apartment looks and all the extra space."

"You know, Rob." His father started smirking. "If you want extra space so bad, you should, you know? Move to a big house in the countryside." He couldn't resist chuckling. "It's magnitudes bigger than anything you could find in New York and it's only a fraction of the price."

"Dad! Stop that this instant!" Rob growled playfully, hugging him. "Not you too!"

"Oh, Robbie!" The two hugged as best as they could while strapped into the backseat. "How did you turn out so urban? We raised you and Hobart the exact same way, how did you two diverge so much?"

"Hobart's the odd one out." Rob shrugged. "Kessie's still super into the city nightlife, last time I checked."

"You should've come with us when we visited her. She told us the wildest stories! When humans were banned from nightclubs, things got pretty wild in the ones that remained open. Quite literally."

The son gave a confused look. "Uh, I think I'd rather not hear about that, to be honest."

"Your loss."

The two slowly finished the hug in silence, Buster now just leaning on Rob. "Dad." Rob started petting his father's head. "If Shane cancels this year's trip, how about we go abroad by ourselves?" He begged, almost whining.

"It's a possibility, especially with all the money Brian randomly gifted to me. Don't be hasty, alright? You'll enjoy another grand trip soon, be it with us or with Shane."

"Thank you, Dad!" He chirped. "Us three or us four?"

"Us three, probably. Are you fine with that, Dana?" Buster asked his mate.

"Fine with what?" She stopped daydreaming.

"Traveling with us two, if Shane can't do it with Rob this year."

"Of course, hotdog!" She nuzzled his head. "Even if Shane can make it, I'd prefer that. I don't want Rob's human risking himself."

"Dana!" Buster blushed. "Keep the pet names to our bedroom, alright?"

"It's just Robbie here, what are you blushing for?"

"I'm here too. Do you really think my hearing is that bad?" The human driver interjected. "And if you two think your bedroom is soundproof, you'd be really mistaken." Both dogs hid their faces.

Rob giggled and turned his attention to the scenery, seeing the familiar wide one-story house built a distance away from the small road the car was driving in, a large clearing surrounding the property.

"Here we are, then." Rob declared, sighing dismissively. "Good thing they left that flag there, I was forgetting what country I was in for a sec."

"You always make that sarcastic comment, Rob. *Always.*" His father complained.

"And they *always* have the flag there, which means that they actually go out of their way to maintain it. Not ever stopping to think 'You know? I think I'm gonna remember I'm in the United States by now.'"

"They're proud of their country, Rob. Aren't you?"

"Oh, um. A little. It's just that given this country's history, it can be seen as a little problematic, you know?"

"Oh, dear lord, Rob. You're getting *way* too 'urban' recently. Leave that stuff for the college campuses, alright?" Buster teased while rubbing Rob's head, as everyone got to getting out of the car.

"I don't know what you're getting at there." The son looked around, seeing nothing but the house, the parked car, Elliot, his parents and the woodlands. "Are they going to greet us or something?"

"Go help me with the baggage, you two." Elliot suggested towards Buster and Dana. "They're probably inside, the humans, I mean. Get your stuff out of the car and then I'm running back to the city already, sorry for not even staying for some hours."

"Elliot!" Dana exclaimed in a reprimanding tone. "You shouldn't be driving for that long! Weren't you going to stay the night?"

"I'll stay the night in the town, not here. Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna sleep inside the house of complete strangers. And with Buster's new money, whew!" He whistled. "I'm gonna enjoy some quality upstate respite today!" The senior explained while opening the car's trunk.

The three dogs walked up to the trunk, seeing some backpacks and luggage. "We'll handle this, Son." Buster told Rob. "Go surprise Hobart, he's probably close to his doghouse."

"Alright." Rob acknowledged, walking towards the back of the house.

Rob looked at the rest of the clearing, a big doghouse stood close to the house, a pig pen he didn't remember was much farther from the house, almost next to the trees. "I really hope it's me who's going to surprise someone here. I hate getting startled." He thought to himself, looking around next to the miniature house.

"He's not inside the doghouse, what about Mom and Dad?" He looked at the car, seeing the trunk closed and nobody there anymore. "Probably inside already... Maybe he's there with the humans, in that case I can surprise him too. Dad could pretend I gave up on coming and then once he goes outside, boom! It's your bro!" Rob looked towards the woods, sniffing.

"I don't remember that structure there." Rob looked at the pig pen. "The smell coming from that too, argh! Makes any attempts to track Hobart's scent useless." He started walking up to the pen.

The Retriever slowly approached it, seeing a single pig inside, the fat pink-skinned quadruped sleeping on the ground. "He's not here then." He looked deep into the forested area. "I'm not gonna look for him inside the woods, that's a perfect horror thriller movie prompt. And if I die just before moving to my new apartment, I'll be a bit upset."

"Hello?" A strange voice came from the pig pen now behind him.

Rob turned around and saw the pig, now standing on all fours and awake. "Oh, um... Just looking for someone, don't mind me."

"You're not Hobart, are you? What's that thing stuck in your collar?"

"Uh, it's a globe. My tag."

"What?"

"I don't know how to simplify that further, sorry." Rob gave up on looking for his brother, now leaning on the pen's fence and looking at the talking pig. "You don't know where Hobart is, do you?"

"Of course not. I even thought you were him. I haven't seen him today."

Rob sighed. "I'll just wait for the bloke around here then. I'm gonna try to avoid the humans here for as long as I can, and that house is their hotspot."

"Is there a problem with them?"

"Somewhat... Rural humans, you know? They tend to think they're one step over animals, that they're not even animals themselves and were instead 'created' to rule us. It's crazy. I know I'm being bigoted, but I really don't like to interact with the humans from these parts, better safe than sorry."

"Oh, alright. It does feels like the whole point of my life is to be used by humans, frankly."

"Same, pig. The whole point of my life is to be cute to a bunch of humans and be pampered for being so. But for the folk around here, being cute is my only right... But things are changing. Back home, if you're a dog working a typically human job, nobody will even look at you weird anymore."

The pig nodded, only starting to talk again after a long silence. "It's good to have some company here, dog. Thank you for this."

"Aw." Rob whined with pity. "My name's Rob, I'm Hobart's brother. Who are you?"

"I'm Nau. I'm just their pig."

Rob nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Nau. You weren't here last time I visited, in 2015."

"I wasn't here then, I wasn't really anywhere back then."

"Oh... Well, I'm staying here for the weekend. Let's hope we have some good times."

"I'm really appreciating your company, thank you again... This is my last day on Earth, you know? I have to make the most of today, and you're really helping."

Rob cringed. "Oh... Uuh... You're an astronaut? Going on a space trip tomorrow?" The dog attempted to half-heartedly joke.

"'Astronaut'? What's that?"

Rob covered his face with his paws, leaning on the fence. "Oh dog." He sighed. "How isolated are you from the world, living here?"

"Very, I'd assume. Nobody really talks to me, because... You know."

"I... I *don't* know, actually. Why are you avoided?"

"Because I'll be gone soon. Why befriend someone who's going to be just a day's meal a few years after you first meet them? That's why I appreciate your company, nobody wants to hear my last words here and feel awful, and I can't even blame them... You're probably the last person I'll talk to before I get the knife. Well, first the bullet, then the knife."

"Augh!" Rob groaned. "Don't say that! That's terrible!"

"Please don't go away." Nau pleaded shyly.

"I won't!" Rob almost screamed. "Do you want my help?" Rob looked around for possible witnesses, seeing nobody. "I can help you get away, I barely know the humans here, I don't even like pork that much, I can just replace their meal with something else, I'll walk all the way to the town and buy something for them there, I'm probably loaded compared to them, even being a dog." He offered rapidly and quietly.

The pig gave him a confused look. "You think I can't just run away from here?" He laughed. "It's fine, dog. Please don't try to help me escape. It's just my fate, it's life!"

"Not for long it won't! You're gonna die! You'll just accept that?! I'd rather die trying to escape this woodland than just accept my fate of unceremoniously becoming dinner!"

"Well, that's you. I've always accepted everything. I've enjoyed my life, it has to end at some point. Same goes for you, you know? Do me a favor, aside from stopping to talk to me today. Enjoy my meat, alright? Savor it, since it seems like it's going towards a special occasion: Your visit. That's my dying wish, don't make the end of my life be in vain, please."

"No! I'm not gonna eat you if you get killed! That's horrible!"

"You're a predator, aren't you? A carnivore. Don't you already eat other animals every day? What's wrong with eating one you've talked to?"

"Attachment!"

"That's hypocrisy! A life is a life! Being talked to doesn't make my life worth more than the life of all your other food!"

"Oh, great vegan talking points, makes me almost miss the Internet. Tell that to all the worms you've eaten."

"The worms get eaten, now I get eaten. Where's the hypocrisy in that?"

Rob closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Whatever, sorry... I'll enjoy your meat, alright? Unless it's a cut I don't like, but then you shouldn't blame me. Let's not have some argument with a dog be the last thing that happens to you during your life."

"I don't mind, Rob. I hope tomorrow's dinner goes well for you."

"I just envy how level-headed you are, it's incredible. If I had a set day for me to die, I'd be a complete wreck. I'd probably call my two best friends, Mom and Dad, Shane, and then just cry in their arms for the whole day, until the time comes and I embrace the nothingness." Rob shuddered a little. "Ugh."

"It's not bad, it's just a passage to Heaven. It'll probably be indescribable pain for less than a second, and then I'll be at the gates."

"Oh." Rob cringed again. "If that's what you believe in, then I'm really happy for you."

"What do you believe happens after death?"

"Oh, Nau. Could we please avoid that talk?"

"No, Rob. Go on, tell me. It seems like you take death way more seriously than it should. I wanna help you, tell me what you personally think will happen to you after you die."

Rob sighed, then shrugged and started talking. "What will happen to me is what has already happened to me in the billions of years that preceded my birth, absolutely nothing. My biological functions will cease, whatever 'soul' controls my brain will vanish into nothingness, followed by my body becoming just a clump of cells that will get absorbed by all the still-living things near it that think it's tasty. That's what will happen to me. I thought I'd get super existential by talking about everything like this, but I'm almost entertained, weird." Rob smiled.

"And why do you think your soul will 'vanish into nothingness'?"

"Because when you die, you stop moving, you don't work anymore. Whatever thing the conscience is, it gets destroyed and is unable to make your body do anything ever again. Your conscience depends on your brain, after all."

"The soul just leaves the body, Rob. Even I know this, and my life was spent mostly inside these four fences right here. The body remains here, the soul goes to Heaven, staying there for eternity. It's not a hard concept to understand. Death isn't the end of everything, alright? Do you feel better now?"

"You've never died, Nau. Don't just state these things as facts... I hope you're right, but you're likely not. If souls really separate from bodies and then go to somewhere else why is it Heaven? Why is death always followed by eternal bliss, if it's caused by the separation of soul and body? Why can't your soul just stick around the planet then? Roaming for eternity, unable to interact with anything? Or why can't it just go to some type of void? Why does it have to go to some utopian, post-scarcity universe full of things that are considered subjectively good to you? That's just wishful thinking. Where is Heaven? Is it in the sky? Is it in space? Is it in another dimension? Why does its location change every time technology progresses to the point it should be reachable? Do microbes go to Heaven? Do plants go to Heaven? Is there a hard cutoff for what types of 'soul' get to go there? What created Heaven? Did it just pop into existence when the first rudimentary chain of proteins that could be loosely called 'life' stopped working? Does it get updated, as the definition of 'things that are good' changes with time? Is it shared between all life in the universe or is there a specific Heaven for each planet? What's the science behind a planet spawning a certain type of 'Heaven' once it develops life, then? Are more parallel Heavens for a planet created as it gets too overpopulated? How can a soul even detach from its body? Can it see things? Can it smell things? Don't you need eyes and a nose for that? It's just illogical, everything about the concept just reeks of escapism, of our first sapient ancestors from millions of years ago looking at people dying and lying to themselves to keep themselves unconcerned. 'Oh, that guy who just started sleeping forever some random day and is now just a pile of unresponsive bones? That was just his soul going away. The soul's now vacationing in a place full of things he liked. The same will happen to you, so it's fine!' That's all that Heaven is, trying to pretend death is fine when it's not. And that mentality is what's causing you to just stick around here, right next to your future killers, because you believe getting a piece of lead lodged into your brain will cause your spirit to shoot out of you and move out to what I guess would be a giant, beautiful mud pit."

The pig stared at Rob, mouth agape. "Uh... I don't really know how to argue against that, it seems like you actually know a lot more than me, sorry." He looked down.

Rob was filled with regret immediately. "Nau, no! Don't believe in me, please! Just keep believing in what you believed, alright?! I really don't wanna ruin your last hours of life by dashing your hopes of a good afterlife!" The dog whined. "Why did you have to ask me to elaborate?!" He facepalmed.

"I still think I'll go to Heaven tonight, don't worry." Nau dismissed. "I just have no idea what half of the terms you used were, sorry."

Rob removed his face from his paws and looked back at the pig. "Oh, alright. Sorry. I really don't want to make someone go from accepting death to feeling the horrible desperation I'd feel if I were facing death."

"I'll face death with no worries." The pig boasted. "If there's an afterlife, I'll be happy. If there isn't, well, I won't be anything, I guess. Other than delicious."

Rob laughed nervously. "Just, just don't think about it. Please. You'll go to Heaven, you'll 'rest in peace' or whatever. Don't mind this stupid city dog that decided to show up here during your last hours."

"There's something that's been bothering me during this conversation, Rob. Could you please answer me?"

Rob furrowed his brows. "Uh, what would that be?"

"What's an 'astronaut'?"

"Oh! Uuh... An astronaut is a type of pilot that's allowed to fly beyond the planet's atmosphere, into space."

"What's 'atmosphere'?"

Rob resisted facepalming. "It's a bunch of gases that stick right next to the planet. The blue light that engulfs the sky during daytime, that's the atmosphere being lit up. If you keep going up you reach a point where it's dark even during daytime, because there's no more atmosphere around you. That's space."

The pig nodded. "You know a lot about this stuff, don't you? Do dogs in the city go to school?"

"They mostly don't, no." The Retriever chuckled. "I just really like geography, a consequence of my family always going to places around the world for fun."

"Have you been to space?"

Rob wheezed at the question, rapidly disguising it. "Haha, no. But I've been to very, very far away places. I *am* from very far away, to begin with. I'm Hobart's brother, but I don't live in this region."

"I know, you did call yourself a 'city dog'. What city are you from?"

"New York."

"Aren't we in New York right now? I know that much, at least."

"Oh! I mean New York City. It's a city in the southern tip of this state."

"Oh, right. I've heard of it."

"Hard not to, I guess." The dog smiled. "Even living stuck between fences, hundreds of miles away, you somehow hear about it."

"Stop assuming I'm 'stuck' here. This is just my room, I'm free to go wherever I want."

"It's your last day living! Are you seriously gonna spend it just chilling here?! Don't you want to maybe walk to the lake? Enjoy the last sunset of your life? Live life to your fullest! Even if you think life is just a pointless quick adventure you need to go through before being sent to Heaven for eternity."

Nau shook his head. "Don't worry about me, dog. Please. I've done that already, I'm not going to exert myself today... Today, I'm just going to relax here and wait. I shouldn't strain myself hours before dying, it'll make my meat worse, after all. Gotta be a good pig, and just accept what's coming."

"Agh! You've completely surrendered, haven't you? Oh, well." Rob sighed and started looking back at the nearby house. "Have a good day, Nau. As good as it can be, at least. I'm gonna look for my brother, It was a pleasure knowing you."

"Same... Thank you for making me some company today, thank you so much. You can go now, please don't worry about me. Don't let this talk ruin your day. I hope you enjoy your stay here, and also my flesh."

Rob laughed quietly. "Stop that!" He berated playfully. "We should respect dead people, and I think that applies even if it's yourself, OK?" He looked back to the pig quickly. "Goodbye then, Nau. See you later. If you know what I mean." Rob winked.

Nau laughed back. "Hahaha! There you go, Rob! Lighten up a little! Goodbye!"

"Bye!" The Retriever waved, walking away.

Rob walked towards the house while scratching his forehead. "Ugh, what even was that conversation? I desperately need some distraction now." He reached the front door and stopped, breathing in deeply.

"Let's get this actually started, then." He thought to himself. "I really don't want to deal with his adoptive family, Hobart better be right behind this do-" The door opened brusquely, another Golden Retriever immediately facing Rob.

"Rob?!" The Retriever inside the house widened his eyes. "Dad told me you had to stay!"

"Hahaha! He actually went ahead with that fake out? Of course I came with them, Hobart! How are things?" Rob offered a handshake.

"Great as always." Hobart regained his composure quickly, reluctantly slowly moving his right paw towards Rob's extended arm. "Uh, could we skip the handshake? You know, because of the virus? Especially considering you're from the city."

"Really, Bart?!" Rob forcefully made contact with his brother's paw, shaking it firmly and then retracting his arm. "Don't give me that. Those precautions are only for humans, are you seriously this misinformed? We dogs are as free as we always were, no worries, alright?" He smiled and put a paw on Hobart's shoulder.

"Still, better safe than sorry." Hobart shrugged and started walking away from the house, closing the door and being followed side-by-side by Rob. "You know I'm not into physical contact, I thought with all that stuff happening I'd be spared of your usual huggy self."

Rob giggled. "There's no escape, Bro. Sorry. Try to avoid another handshake and I'm forcing you to lick my paw." He threatened jokingly.

"You best be joking. Where's Kessie hiding, by the way?"

"She's hiding back in Brooklyn. She actually didn't come, it's not another trick, don't worry."

"Aw... Oh well, her loss."

"Let's hope she's back there enjoying all the horrible buzz of the city, right? All the terrible traffic, crime and pollution! Why do people even live in cities?! They're so stupid!" Rob mocked exaggeratedly.

"Oh, stop it." Hobart rolled his eyes, feigning some annoyance. "I'm gonna tone that down, OK? If you're able to enjoy the frantic cacophony you call your home, then I'm happy for you. Sorry for annoying you in the past."

"Apology accepted." He bowed. "I'm not even gonna complain about this place's lack of literally anything in exchange, alright? Let's accept our differences."

"Just don't expect me to ever come back there. You're always willing to visit me here in Lake George. Meanwhile, I'd rather never set foot in your city again, even if just to visit you for a few days. That's a little telling, you know? We two can both tolerate Lake George while only you can tolerate New York City."

"I don't wanna compare New York to this mediocre picnic spot, Bart. Didn't we just 'make peace'? Why are you trying to annoy me already? And I'm only here because I currently don't have a home, my owner's busy moving to our new place and I'm visiting you while he deals with that."

"Oh, you're finally fleeing from that dump?"

"Yeah! We're fleeing from the peripheral regions of the city, moving straight to the core! Midtown Manhattan! You know that part of the city bordering Central Park with the super tall buildings and the animated billboards? That's where I'm gonna live now!"

"Augh! That's terrifying! Good luck with that, then. Thought you had come to your senses and moved to at least a very far-off suburb, but nope!"

"Isn't College Point far enough? We've definitely tried that out already." Rob looked around, still following Hobart to seemingly nowhere in particular. "Where the howl are you going, Bart?" He finally asked.

"It's a surprise, alright? I think you'll like it."

"Oh dear. Considering your assumptions of me, I'm very worried now."

"Just stay tuned." The two brothers approached a small shack close to the pig pen.

"Oh, right. Your little workshop." Rob reminisced dismissively. "Somehow forgot to look for you here, earlier."

"Then the camouflage is working as intended." Hobart grabbed a sheet covering some huge object on the ground next to the shack. "Check this out." He pulled the sheet out, revealing an ATV.

"Oh, um." His brother smiled nervously. "That's a very nice sculpture you've made. I can't wait for you to open the shack and reveal to me the real surprise."

"Don't be difficult." Hobart quickly opened the shack's door just to grab a backpack from inside, quickly closing it. He sat on the ATV after wearing the backpack. "Hop right in, Bro." He turned on the engine.

"No, no, no, Bart!" Rob stepped back. "Don't you need a helmet for this? Do you even have a license?"

"Really, Rob? Shut up with your big city law stuff, we're just taking a short two minute long ride. Nobody's gonna stop us."

"I don't care about the lack of law enforcement here, I care about my safety! I'm not riding a bike with no helmet on and with somebody who's not properly trained!"

"It's not a bike, it's a quad. Just get in." Hobart spat impatiently.

Rob sighed and got on the ATV, hugging his brother and his backpack. "If you kill me just before I move to my new place, I'll be pretty angry! Just saying!" He exclaimed during the ride, trying to drown out the engine noise.

"If that happens, we'll party hard in Heaven, alright?! I'd love arriving there together with you!"

"Could we just avoid more of this Heaven talk today?! Please?!"

"What do you mean 'more'?!"

"Nothing! Eyes on the road, please!"

Outskirts of Bolton Landing, New York, Friday 11:12 AM

The ATV with the two dogs arrived at a large clearing some fair distance away from the nearest rural road. The vehicle stopped, both dogs getting off.

"So, pup, how was my driving?" Hobart asked his brother after taking his backpack off and putting it on the grass.

"It was reasonable, whatever. And you're my litter-mate, if you call me a kid you're also doing that to yourself."

"I mean 'pup' as in cowardly, not young." He explained while rummaging his backpack. "The real surprise is actually in here, by the way, check this out." Hobart grabbed a pistol from the pack.

"Whoa, whoa!" Rob jumped back. "Get that *** away from me! What the howl?!"

"Hehehe." He chuckled. "I just love how you city folk react to this tiny thing. I'd normally bring my hunting rifles here, but that'd ruin the surprise." Rob slowly approached his brother again, who was examining the firearm while talking. "And I also wouldn't trust you with using that kinda stuff, you've never fired a gun, have you?"

"Of course not! No matter what you think living in a city is like, I come from a place where I don't have to kill people routinely! And stop with the 'city folk' talk, or else I'm gonna impress you with my vast knowledge of slurs for rural residents."

Hobart snorted. "Why? I know you complain about us 'hicks' all the time when we're not there. But anyways, let's finally shoot some effing guns." He pointed towards a far-off large metal table on the ground, flipped on its side at the edge of the clearing. "Let's start with easy mode, for a scaredy pup like you. That big metal sheet standing there is the target, normally I'd put some cans over it and try to hit them, but today your objective is to simply hit anywhere in the metal. You up for it?"

"We're really doing this, then? Go ahead, teach me how to use the little murder machine you forest goblins love so much. I hope the little fun we have today is worth all the mass shootings."

"Rob! Jeez!" Hobart glared. "Getting really spicy there, aren't you? Meanwhile you chew my ear out for just saying the words 'city folk' together..." He took aim carefully after preparing the gun for shooting. "Of course just hitting the metal is too easy for me, I'm gonna hit the top left tip, check it out."

"Shouldn't we be wearing ear protec-" The gun suddenly fired, the bullet hitting the top left corner of the table.

"Augh! Bart!" Rob covered his ears. "A heads-up would be nice, you know?!"

"I spent almost minutes preparing that shot, Rob. That's on you for being so clueless. It's just a bang, don't tell me you're also afraid of fireworks."

"I don't think anybody afraid of fireworks would survive Fourth of July in New York."

"Really? Don't they ban fireworks statewide? You get away with that in the city?"

"They're not illegal in Pennsylvania, so they might as well be allowed. Suddenly you care about the law? I'm pretty sure dogs aren't allowed to just shoot guns for fun like this also, but here we are."

"Eh, good point." Hobart nodded, handing his gun to Rob. "You definitely need some training, don't you? If you kill yourself here, it'll be one hundred percent your fault for being stupid, alright?"

"What's with today and death? Jeez. At least wait a few weeks, maybe after my trip with Xander." Rob joked, grabbing the gun from Hobart's paw carefully. "You grab it with two paws like this, you look through this thing here at the top to aim... Is the safety on?" He stopped taking aim and looked at the gun's side. "It is! Bet you thought I'd fall for that, huh?" He pressed and rotated a switch on the gun.

His brother shrugged. "Standard gun safety, Bro. But yeah, I definitely expected you to prepare the perfect shot just to then pull the trigger with the safety on."

"I know my stuff, this is just like VR." Rob took aim at the metal again. "That's probably the most 'boomer comics' thing I've ever said, haha." He chuckled.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing. It's about some old humans who like to assume anyone younger than ten thinks everything is an electronic and that means the end of times." Rob tried to aim at the target's center and pulled the trigger, causing a loud bang.

"There we go!" Rob boasted. "Dead center! First try of my whole life! The recoil wasn't even as strong as I expected. Not so bad for a disgusting 'city slicker', am I?"

"Stop it with the pejoratives! If I can't use them you shouldn't be allowed to either. And that was just alright, remember you still have my blood flowing within you." Hobart smirked.

"Shooting is nothing special, by the way." Rob activated the safety and handed the gun back to his brother, him grabbing it back. "Fishing, trekking, stargazing, even exploring small towns are better rural activities than this one. And most of them don't involve imminent lethal danger."

"You literally only shot once, calm down." Hobart put the pistol on the grass next to the backpack and started rummaging it again. "I'm gonna grab some of my targets here, maybe drive back home and grab my hunting rifles, you can just wait here if you want to."

"Are you gonna do this until it's time for lunch?"

"It's like, eleven, isn't it? Probably."

Rob sat down on the grass. "Oh well." He sighed. "Let me just watch your amazing marksman skills while gradually getting my eardrums destroyed then. A shame you won't let me just sleep here, since I was awake for the entire road trip to here."

"I've slept near a shooting range once, it just becomes background noise after a while."

"That's hearing loss, Hobart. Nothing worth bragging about."

"Considering the constant traffic noise you get where you live, we must be equa- Squirrel!" Hobart suddenly perked his ears and looked towards the woods, sniffing.

"Making an 'Up' reference now? Really?" Rob asked incredulously. "That film assumes we dogs are way dumber than we actually are, you know?"

"Shh!" He shushed loudly, going prone and grabbing his pistol. "Lie down! Stop sticking out, quick!" He ordered quietly.

Rob didn't understand but complied immediately. "Why? Enemy sniper spotted?" He joked.

"Shh! There's a squirrel nearby. I love trying out moving targets, check this out." Hobart started sniffing again.

The two brothers smelt the squirrel clearly after some moments, turning their vision towards the flipped metal table used earlier. A squirrel was standing on top of the table, looking towards the woods for something, facing away from them.

"Hehe." Hobart chuckled very quietly towards his brother. "Of course it decides to stand right on my favorite target spot, what a piece of cake. Or should I say, piece of squirrel." He started aiming his pistol at the creature from his lying position. "Not a bright one, that one. Let me show you what happens to dumb animals in the wild."

"Don't shoot the squirrel, Bart! Are you kidding me?!" Rob raised his voice. "You're actually killing people here?! Stop that! Let it go!"

"Quiet down! 'People'?! It's a wild squirrel! Thank dog the thing's so brain-dead it didn't even hear you." He quickly prepared a shot again.

"No! Bart! Don't do it!" Rob pleaded quickly. "Uh." He stood up and looked up. "Awoooooo!" Rob howled loudly, the squirrel immediately jumping from the table and running away. The forest rustled with the sound of many birds flying away.

Hobart swept Rob's feet with an arm, causing him to fall close to him and stop sticking out of the tall grass. "Are you ***ing kidding me?!" Hobart growled angrily and loudly. "Why would you do that?!"

"Why would *you* do that?!" Rob got up again, looking at his prone brother. "I'm not gonna watch you kill someone! What's your problem?!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Hobart also stood up, facing Rob. "Are you seriously gonna cry over some random squirrel dying?! That thing's probably already getting eaten by some eagle by now!"

"At least that's a purposeful death! Don't use living things as target practice!"

"I eat or use everything I hunt! I just told you about my hunting rifles, like, five times! Why are you so surprised?! Did you think I just shoot static targets around here?!"

"Of course! You thought I'd assume you're a killer just for owning a gun?"

"I'm not a 'killer', Rob, jeez. It's hunting, that's just a part of nature. Where do you think your food comes from?"

"Oh, of course you're gonna make that argument. It comes from horrible, giant concentration camps where millions of animals are systematically slaughtered after living horrible lives, is that the answer you want? I don't care. I don't get to see that. Being aware of that doesn't give me the right to just go outside and start adding even more deaths to everything. At least I can just move on telling myself that in the parallel universe where herbivores are dominant instead of carnivores, they'd do the same to us, except they wouldn't even be able to eat us. So it's just a case of 'better them than us'."

Hobart got back to getting his targets from his backpack. "Ugh." He sighed. "Utter hypocrite. How about you skip tomorrow's dinner, then? A pig's gonna die for that, but you just want the cute little thing to live, don't you?"

"I'm really tempted to skip tomorrow's dinner, to be honest. Even today's, depending on what it's going to be."

"Why? You can't actually go vegan, you know? I know it's hard for you city dogs to put this in your heads, but we can't just do everything the humans do. They're a completely different species, after all."

Rob rolled his eyes. "Says the dog who thinks he can catch COVID... Jus- Just grab your targets, alright? Go have your fun. Could you keep today's shooting session 'vegan'? Just for your dear cowardly brother here?"

"Sure." Hobart chuckled, finally grabbing some empty cans and bottles from the backpack. "Let's go shoot some grass and trees then. Squirrel lover."
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really nice job with this chapter! You keep on surpassing expectations!
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Obbl
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Obbl »

You have a really good understanding of people with differing viewpoints. I love that all of your characters disagree while remaining relatable. It makes me viscerally side with one over the other and yet forces me to come to terms with how the other sees things as well. I did not sign up for this broadening of my horizons stuff, but it's certainly been interesting
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Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Characterization is probably my biggest worry when writing. Being a rather introverted person, I'm always afraid of ending up making a bunch of characters who are just copies of my own personality but with different interests and backstories. I'm glad to get some positive feedback on that.

And yeah, I always try to develop conflicts naturally rather than pushing characters into becoming indefensibly extreme caricatures. I'm trying to keep the writing as realistic as possible. Not really the best idea, considering Housepets!' borderline fantastical universe, but I think it works considering I'm going for simple slice-of-life and not attempting some epic adventure.
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Glover Residence, Bolton Landing, New York, Friday 10:45 PM

The house belonging to Hobart's family had most of its windows lit up in the quiet night. He and his brother were lounging on the lawn next to the house and the family's pickup truck, looking up at the night sky.

"Still feeling bad about eating that chicken?" Hobart asked Rob, teasing him.

"I just don't wanna see the life being drained out of someone, Bart. Please respect that. I know the death of thousands of organisms is necessary for my survival, but I can easily go on living without ever seeing that stuff."

"Coward." He spat. "Enjoying the night sky?" Hobart changed topics after some silence.

"Yeah... Of course it doesn't even come close to the desert sky, you can barely see the Milky Way from here. But of course it beats New York City's."

"Sometimes I remember you visit places that aren't horrible, claustrophobic cities. That almost makes me wish to get a taste of all your long travels, but then I remember all the headaches involved in getting to the place you wanna go to."

Rob chuckled. "The transport's one of the best parts, Bro. Why do you think I'm here? Just seeing a little bit of the world on the way here makes it worth it."

"Oh, shut up. You're here for me and you know it."

"That's forty percent or so of my reason for being here... Pretend I said eighty, just to make you feel better."

"I wish I would catch sight of a shooting star right now. I haven't seen one in years... Thank you for the stargazing idea, by the way. I'm loving it."

"You're welcome... Me and Shane did this a few weeks ago, when we were in Boston, we drove a little out of the city to see NEOWISE clearly."

"See what now?"

"Come on Bart! Don't tell me you missed it! It's a comet that was visible in July, beautiful sight."

"Really?! I missed seeing a freaking comet?! How did I not know about that?"

"Lack of contact. Do you even have Internet here? Being isolated from civilization has its drawbacks, you know? Believe it or not."

"Of course we have Internet. And we're not 'away from civilization', stop that. The town is minutes away from my house, and that place's crawling with tourists from your little megatropolis during the summer too. We're far from being truly off the grid."

"What's the house's Internet speed?"

"Uuh... Five Mbps, I believe. But with me and five humans sharing it, it ends up way slower than that."

"Wow. That's just miserable."

"It's enough for me. I know you need your fast Internet because there's nothing to do back home other than spending your whole day on the computer."

"What?! You're the one living in a forest! Are you seriously trying to call New York City boring now?! I know it has its pros and its cons, but not even the biggest city hater would complain there's a lack of things to do!"

"Just kidding. Anything that peeves you, Bro. Don't mind me."

A silence between the two finally settled. Both continuing to look at the stars.

"Let me brush up on my skills here a little." Rob began again. "My geographic knowledge is good enough, let me see if my celestial geographic knowledge is still what it used to be." He started trying to map out the sky with his mind.

"The North Star is that one, isn't it?" Hobart pointed at a particularly bright star.

Rob moved from his position until he was lying right next to Hobart to make sure he knew exactly which star he was pointing at, putting an arm around him as their sides made contact. "Nope. That's Alpha Persei. Big miss!" He playfully leaned his head on Hobart's shoulder.

"Ah, here's the classic 'Huggy Rob'." Hobart complained jokingly. "It was taking a while for you to show up."

"I love my family, Bro. What can I do?" He pointed at another star. "*That* one, is Polaris. Also known as Alpha Ursae Minoris. Then we have Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Beta, Gamma and Eta." He rapidly pointed at other dimmer stars. "Zeta, Beta, Gamma and Eta form a rectangle. Connecting with Zeta we have the little 'tail' coming out of the rectangle, which culminates with Polaris, or Alpha. That's Ursa Minor, the 'Little Dipper'." He circled the constellation with his paw.

Hobart gave a confused look to nobody in particular, considering he was facing up. "Was that even English?" He chuckled.

"Nope, it was Greek." Rob laughed. "Do you want some help trying to make out constellations? After attempting to do that in the city, doing that here is way easier."

"Uh, go on. I've never bothered with that, but I really should have."

Rob stopped embracing Hobart with one of his arms and used it to grab his brother's arm, using it to point at what he wanted to show him. "Alright, so since that one's Polaris, let's go right to show you one that's pretty easy." He dragged his and his brother's paws a little to the right. "See that triangle there? It's part of Cassiopeia. Really easy one, only five main stars. Memorize with me, from the top: Beta Cassiopeiae, Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon." He pointed to each carefully. Starting again once finished. "Caph, Schedar, Navi, Ruchbah, Segin. That's their traditional Arabic names."

"Gosh, Rob, what?! You're crazy. You're making this up, aren't you?"

"Of course not, you think I'm that creative? Bet you didn't expect some dummy from the city knowing about the stars, huh? We barely get that there after all."

"You just have my blood, I've explained that before. Now all you need is my brains."

"Alright, let me show you my galaxy-brain here then. Quite literally." He dragged his brother's paw to Polaris again. "Polaris is part of 'Ursa Minor', the tiny bear. Let me show you the huge one." He dragged his arm down. "Uuh... You see that 'line' there? That's the top of Ursa Major. You can see two stars just under that line forming a shape that looks like Ursa Minor, but bigger. That's the 'Big Dipper' which is kinda like a 'sub-constellation' of Ursa Major."

"I at least know of the big and little dippers, Rob. I'm not that clueless."

"Would fool me." Rob dissed jokingly. "Let's start with the names. From the left, that's the tip of the bear's tail, I believe. Do you want the Greek or the Arabic names?"

"Arabic, please. I've had enough 'Etas'."

"Alright. Here we go. The left tip is 'Alkaid', let's do the top 'line' first." He pointed to a star firmly. "Alkaid, going right: Mizar-Alcor, Alioth, Megrez, Dubhe, and, uh, Muscida! That's drawing the bear's tail, back and head. Now make a huge circuit with the three last stars and the other two from the 'Big Dipper', they're Merak and Phecda. Now that we have the torso and head, try to make out some legs dangling from it. The rest of the constellation's too close to the horizon, the trees get in the way."

Hobart giggled. "Insane... Let's stop before I get a headache."

Rob let go of his brother's paw, the two returning to just looking up, daydreaming. "You gotta know all that if you wanna become an astronaut, you know?" Rob joked.

"Rob! Come on! Don't embarrass me with my puppyhood! I told you about that fantasy of mine when I was like, five months!" He playfully berated.

"Hehe. Those poor soviet dogs, first Earthlings to ever go to space. They make all of us dogs realize how far we can go even in a human-dominated society, but in the end, they were just chosen because the humans thought of their lives as less valuable than theirs, no way they wanted to risk humans so early into spaceflight technology. Pretty much glorified test subjects."

"Don't put it like that, Rob. All of them had excellent backgrounds. The fact they were able to work skilled human jobs back in the fifties, even, it's hopeful."

"Right. Just don't compliment the Soviets around these parts. That won't fly well, especially with the humans."

"Stop with that. Remember this is rural but it's still New York, we're not in the Deep South. I thought you had learned that when I complained about you mocking us by saying 'y'all' all the time."

"Your humans would fit in perfectly well in the dead center of Alabama, sorry to disappoint. I'm saying this as someone who's been there. Remember you're still a New York City native, and once you decide to come back, we'll all welcome you with open arms and forget about all of this."

Hobart chuckled. "You wish I could possi-" Their talk was interrupted by a sudden loud bang.

Rob flinched while Hobart only interrupted his sentence. "We're getting fireworks here too? We're a month late." Rob mocked.

"That's a gunshot, Rob. I thought you'd be able to tell after today."

Rob widened his eyes. "Uh. Should we be running away?"

Hobart laughed. "Haha! No. It's just my owner... He just got done with the first step of the recipe for tomorrow's dinner, if you know what I mean."

Rob calmed down a little. "Oh, right. Tomorrow's pork." He widened his eyes again in realization, saddening. "Oh... Nau."

The two brothers remained in silence, Rob slowly putting his arm around Hobart again, barely noticing. "Today was a good day, wasn't it, Bro?" Hobart began serenely. "I respect you and Kessie's decision of staying, but days like this make me wish you two moved with me... Or, dog forbid, make me wish I had stayed."

"Right." Rob sobbed.

Hobart sat up, quickly looking at Rob and seeing his crying face. "Rob?! What's wrong?! Why are you crying?!"

"Nothing!" He covered his face with a paw in shame. "Sorry!"

"Get up!" Hobart forced Rob to sit up by pushing his back with an arm, hugging him tightly once both were sitting on the lawn in an attempt to comfort him. "What happened?" He whined. "Do you miss me? I'm sorry for leaving you!" Hobart started sobbing too.

"Stop it, Bart." Rob managed to utter. "It has nothing to do with you... Don't mind me."

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing! It's too embarrassing! Just forget about this..." The two continued to hug quietly under the starry sky.

Glover Residence, Saturday 7:47 PM

The two families were seated at the house's dining table. A middle-aged couple, their three children, consisting of a male young adult and two teenage girls. Together with Hobart and the visiting dogs. Rob was seated next to his father and Hobart, facing the couple's adult son.

Rob was looking down intently at his pork cut, leaning his elbows on the table and holding his head with his two paws.

"'Enjoy my meat', 'That's my dying wish'." Rob muttered sadly.

"The howl are you doing, Rob?" His brother noticed his unusual behavior. "You're gonna shed all over the food like that, just eat normally. Is this some kind of big city ritual?"

Rob adjusted himself, sitting down properly and shaking his head a little. "Sorry... Thinking of stuff." He finally started cutting and eating his food.

"Is it good?" Hobart asked once Rob was about halfway done.

Rob leaned towards him. "Very mediocre." He answered quietly. "Even the worst restaurants have better pork than this. Howl, most delis have better pork than this."

His brother snickered. "Ouch." He put a paw on his chest, feigning being hurt. "It's still edible, right?"

Rob shrugged. "At least." He started eating again. "Just gotta be honest. Sorry, Nau."

"'Nau'?! How do you know the pig's name?"

Rob facepalmed. "Oh, did I say that too loudly? Just trying to be nice, in case spirits exist."

"You talked to the pig? Michael tells me to *never* talk to animals being raised for their meat! Did you think he was a pet or something? Jeez. I'm sorry if that's the case."

He shook his head dismissively. "Don't worry about me, Bro. I talked to him yesterday, yeah. He made it pretty obvious to me that he knew about his fate and was very accepting of it. It's fine."

"Oh, alright. I think during his whole life, he said 'hi' to me about five times or so, and I just waved back a little every time. Stay detached from your prey, otherwise you'll be the one becoming the prey."

Rob sighed. "It's just... His life is over, this is him now." He held a fork with a piece of meat on it, eating it with emphasis after. "To just have a long talk with someone yesterday, and knowing that it's all over for them now. The little fun we had, talking about stuff... It hurts a little... This is the first time I'm experiencing the death of somebody I remember clearly, I think."

"Chill, Rob. It's fine. Death's a part of life... You'll have to experience this a lot during your life, remember that. If this pig's death is bothering you so much, I don't even wanna imagine your reaction to Dana or Buster dyin-"

"No!" Rob barked loudly. "Don't even say that!" The rest of the table looked at the two with concern, stopping their own quiet conversations.

"Oh dear, Rob." Hobart looked at his brother incredulously. "You're way too sheltered. You need to fix that, for your own good." He stopped looking directly at Rob and turned his attention to the other eaters. "Sorry about that!" He apologized to them.

"Sorry! That was uncalled for!" Rob also apologized. "Sorry, Bro. You're right, it's just..." He facepalmed and sighed. "Death sucks, dog."

"You're saying that while enjoying a pig's corpse."

"Ugh. The way biology has to work sucks, then." Both dogs finished their food, staying at the table.

"How about we go outside and you show me more constellations?" Hobart nudged his brother, smiling. "Let's stop thinking about that kinda stuff, alright?"

Rob brightened up. "Sure! Today's less cloudy than yesterday too. I'm also gonna show you the planets, but it's a bit harder to guess which one's which because their positions change in relation to the stars."

"You're gonna feed that kinda nonsense to our dog?" The human family's son joined the two's conversation from the seat facing Rob. "With that little ball Earth hanging from your collar, I can tell you're really misinformed."

Rob shot the man a very confused look, bewildered. "What? How about you mind your own business, ape? Humph, the audacity." He sneered towards his brother.

"Look. I'm gonna teach you." The human began talking diplomatically. "You're being brainwashed and now you're trying to brainwash our dog too, that's not OK. You're telling him about a model of the universe that's been already completely debunked."

"The constellations? Yeah, nobody believes there are actual centaurs and hunters flying around the sky, it's just for fun. Stars are just very distant burning spheres of plasma, everyone knows that."

"Ah! There you go! Nobody really knows what stars are, don't put that stuff in his head."

"What? It's pretty safe to assume we know, at least generally, what a star is. We can observe literally billions of them, after all."

"Alright. Since you like constellations so much. If the Earth is spinning so fast, at six hundred and sixty-six thousand miles per hour or something, and also spinning around the Sun which is spinning around something else, then how are the constellations always the same?"

"Because the universe is big! It'd take us hundreds of light-years of displacement to see any major difference!"

"How is Polaris always pointing exactly north? If everything is always flying around, how is Polaris always so precise then? Always at the exact top?"

"It's not 'always' there, that'll change in millions of years, as it's always changed. There's also axial precession, which changes the visibility of constellations way faster, but that's a change in Earth's orientation, not position."

The man furrowed his brows at the dog's technical speech. "There's just nothing that you can see that indicates we're standing on a spinning ball right now. Can you show me one example of water sticking onto a spinning ball, for example?"

"In a scale comparable to Earth's? No. But with the Earth's mass it's easy to understand how gravity would make everything stick onto it firmly."

"Hah! 'Gravity'. That's all actually the forces of density and buoyancy. Gravity doesn't exist, it's just a theory."

"What?! Density of what?! That's a property, not a force! And buoyancy requires a counteracting force! If gravity doesn't exist, which force would that be?!"

"Stop shouting, mutt. Look. You like flying, don't you? From what I've heard. Do this little experiment then: Wait for a clear day with no wind, ride a hot air balloon as high as you can, then go directly down. You will land *exactly* where you started from. How does that happen in a magical spinning ball?"

Rob facepalmed. "I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation." He muttered to himself, into his paws. "It's inertia, you absolute moron. The Earth doesn't spin under a balloon because the balloon doesn't lose Earth's momentum the second it stops making contact with it. If you jump inside of a cruising plane the floor won't slide under you while you're in the air, doesn't mean it's not moving, does it? But of course you wouldn't be able to tell, since you neanderthals have never even been in one. No wonder you're able to believe we live in a ***ing frisbee."

"Hey! Language! Starting with the ad hominem already? Let's be civil, dog."

"None of your points make any sense! They all stem from terrible five hour long YouTube videos that should be shown to psychiatrists! You're a 'flat-earther' aren't you? I was wondering what you were trying to argue about at first because the Internet is a cesspool of people who think the Earth is flat, hollow, concave, a simulation, whatever! But now I know what laughable point you're trying to make here. You believe the planet's actually a floating azimuthal projection of a globe centered on the North Pole, connected with a spinning dome with the stars drawn on it, with the sun flying around it in circles for no reason. Do you ever stop to think about that for more than a second? Did you know that the planet has a Southern Hemisphere where nothing of that could remotely make sense? Did you know that if you map out the stars, you end up drawing a celestial globe, not a celestial dome? Did you know that Australia is, in fact, not as big as Eurasia? You can't just say that the planet is actually a flat projection where you make the North Pole a point and the South Pole a giant circle and have anything work as it should work! Stop ***ting up the Internet with that ***! How do you rednecks even watch videos with that Internet speed anyways?!"

"Language! You foul-mouthed fleabag! Go watch the stars with my dog already, I don't care anymore! I bet you think you're so smart throwing all these five-dollar words around! Why are you even arguing with me? Just go fetch a stick, that's what you were bred for!"

"How about you go fetch a degree?! You ***ing manchild! I bet 'Mom' here is really proud of her cashier son who thinks the universe is a serving cloche!"

"Rob!" The woman at the table called out. "You have no right to treat Martin like this! Especially in his own house!"

"This became *my* house the second you stole Hobart from us! And if I find out you tinfoil hats haven't been giving him his shots we're gonna bring him back home by force!"

"We're not gonna let some stranger inject chemicals into our dog!"

Both Buster and Dana, who were both still just worriedly watching the argument, widened their eyes immediately. "What?!" They both exclaimed.

"Hobart's *our* dog and we're gonna raise him the way we want to! We've been over this, haven't we?"

"You *will* *not* endanger our son like this!" Buster got out of his chair and growled loudly at the mother, facing her next to her chair. "He spends entire days in the woods and you haven't even given him his rabies shots?!"

"No! It won't protect him from anything anyways! And god knows what irreparable damage it might do to him!"

"Hobart!" Buster looked back to his son. "We two are gonna look for a vet tomorrow! As soon as possible! Your life's been in constant danger! Your real parents here are about to give you all your vaccines!"

Hobart tried to remain as calm as possible during the confrontation. "Uh, sure, Dad. Bianca just told me to not worry about it. Doesn't it hurt?"

"Do you know what hurts, Bart?!" Buster emotionally choked up. "Do you know what really hurts?! Getting to see your own son convulsing and screaming to death!" He turned to the human parents. "I can't believe you've been doing this! Were you aware of that, Michael?!" He looked at the family's father.

"I'm the one who told her about that." He answered calmly. "The vaccine industry is rotten to the core, we're staying away from that stuff. And so is *our* dog, so stop threatening my wife this instant!"

"Stop threatening my son, you murderers!" He shouted aggressively. "This twenty year experiment is over, Hobart! I'm taking you away from here! We'll find a better family for you! We'll sign you up for self-ownership! Anything! Anything but this!" He stomped, going back to near his family. "Let's go! Dana! Rob! Hobart! You're not spending one more day here!"

"The dog is ours, Buster!" Michael continued. "You have no legal rights to do this!"

"One more word and your only right will be to lie in a coffin." He bared his teeth. "Get up, Bart! We'll walk to the town, I have the money for a hotel, hostel, inn, whatever they could have in this ***hole." Dana and Rob hastily got up, Hobart also doing so after briefly hesitating.

"Dana! Do something!" The other mother pleaded. "Your mate's going crazy!"

"You think I'm not with him?!" Dana growled. "You're both terrible owners *and* parents! This is the end of this little arrangement! You lied to me! You all lied to me! You told me you were taking care of him!" She teared up. "Is this all a joke?! Could you please just show me his vaccination history and admit you're not serious?!" The two humans remained silent, unsure whether to remain at the table or try to stop the now-leaving dogs. Their children stayed seated, watching in fear.

"They probably threw it out as soon as we left Bart here." Buster spat, leaving with Dana and Rob. Dana grabbed Hobart forcefully by the scruff after he slowed down while leaving the dining area, dragging him out.

"Uh." Hobart tried to think fast while leaving his owners. "I'm sorry about this! I'll talk to them, alright?! Don't worry!" He assured his humans.

"Get away from my dog!" Michael objected loudly as the dogs reached the house's exit. "This is dognapping!"

"We know! And we're putting an end to it!" Dana answered before slamming the door.

Hobart immediately turned to his parents once outside. "Dad! Mom! What are you doing?! This is a complete overreaction, you'll get into trouble!"

"I'm not letting Michael and Bianca even see you until you have all your shots!" Buster exclaimed. "Let's just get outta here, we'll follow the road to the town." The dog family started trotting towards the rural street. "Rob! Do you know how far Bolton Landing is from here?"

"Uh, around five kilometers." Rob responded.

Buster sighed in annoyance. "Imperial units, Rob, please! Stop trying to please the little smug European inside your head!"

"Ah. About three miles. Sorry, Dad."

The father shook his head. "Sorry for the outburst, Robbie. Thank you."

"What are even your plans?" Hobart began hastily. "We're gonna run into town, find some hotel, and then what? Stop this before they never allow you three to visit me again!"

"It's over, Hobart! Put that in your head! I won't accept someone who avoids vaccination as my son's guardian! Not now, not ever! Even if they come up with some obviously fake apology and promise!" Buster suddenly veered away from the road. "Your workshop is around here, isn't it? Go grab your stuff, you're never setting foot inside of that house again."

The four dogs arrived at the shack, Hobart reluctantly grabbing his bags and distributing them to the family. "What about my ATV? We can get to town faster with it."

"Uh, we'll try to bring that to New York too, sure. I'll ride it with you to Bolton. Dana and Rob can handle the trip by foot, right?" The two nodded.

Hobart glared at his father. "New York?! You're actually dragging me there?!"

"Temporarily, Bart! Rob's owner's gonna drive us home tomorrow, there's no time to look for a new family here! Once we're there we can fix you, give you the vet visits you desperately need, then send you to whatever backwater dump you want to waste your life in." Buster spat.

Rob couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Wow, I didn't know I actually got that elitist side of me from him." He commented quietly to Dana. Hobart soon hopped on his ATV and headed off with his father, the other two dogs continuing by foot.

Central Bolton Landing, Saturday 9:23 PM

Rob and his mother arrived at the modest Bed and Breakfast Buster had previously informed them about with a call. The two entered separate rooms after informing the front desk of their names and their relationship with Buster, who had already arrived and told the staff about the two incoming guests.

Rob closed the door and looked around the room, seeing two small beds among some simple decoration and a small flat-screened TV, Hobart lying on one of the beds. He sat on the unoccupied one and sighed, putting the backpack he was carrying on the floor. "You know, if you hadn't decided on stargazing with me tonight again, none of this would've happened." He tried to light-heartedly comment.

"Are you seriously blaming me? You're the one who decided to insult Martin like that. You're too spiteful sometimes, Rob. Just let him tell you what he thinks the Earth is like and then disregard him, he would never stop us two from going outside and having fun as planned."

"Yeah. I got too into it... I'm not blaming you, by the way, I was just kidding." Rob started lying on the bed, facing up. "In the end, my outburst made Mom and Dad notice they weren't vaccinating you, so maybe all the planned stargazing actually saved your life."

"I'm not going to die for not going to the vet, Rob. Chill."

"You can definitely die for not going to the vet, Bart! Are you serious?! You don't actually believe vaccines don't do anything like your humans do, do you?"

"I don't know. I don't really care. I remember asking them why I wasn't going there anymore and they just told me to not worry about it. Me being a pup at the time, it was an immense relief."

Rob facepalmed. "Oh no... We're gonna fix you up, alright? I don't know what our parents are discussing right now, but Mom told me on the way here that she'll send you to the best one in the city with Dad's money. You'll never get sick again!"

"Yeah, fine. Hopefully life can return to normal after all that."

"But it won't, Bart! We'll have to find you a new home! Didn't you see both of them burning their bridges with your owners in mere seconds? Even I kinda did that with their son."

"Come on, Rob. They've been my owners for over twenty years, it can't all end because of one day."

"Of course it can! They put you in danger! They force you to sleep outside! Michael forces you to do chores all the time! They're horrible! This was all actually very overdue."

"Stop it, Rob! Seriously?! I *prefer* sleeping in my doghouse! I *love* tending to their house and animals! Not every dog is some lazy mooch like you!"

"Too bad! You're gonna get a taste of being a lazy mooch in New York City for a while, hope you enjoy it. Maybe experiencing things as an adult now, you'll realize how fun it is!" Rob brightened up in realization. "Bart! How about you come live with me? We have plenty of space now! We're gonna travel abroad so much! You'll even see how awesome flying is!" He suggested enthusiastically.

His brother sighed. "Come on, Rob. I'd never try to convince you to move here and then be all happy if you were forced to. Respect my preferences, please... You've barely experienced living here anyways, maybe you'd like it."

"I've had my fair share of small town living, Bart. You think I only travel to huge cities? Of course they're unavoidable, because thats where the big airports are. But after spending a week or so in them, it's off to the backroads for us."

The two relaxed in silence, Rob contemplating trying to turn the TV on. "I'm just..." Hobart whined quietly. "I'm scared, Rob."

Rob sat up immediately, looking at his brother. "Bart, please! Don't cry!" He also choked up, getting on his bed and hugging him gently, trying to comfort him. "Bart... Just calm down, please... Everything will end up better."

"I don't want this. Everything was fine the way it was... Argh! Why did Bianca just *have* to blurt that out?!"

"You have to get vaccinated, Bart. This was all necessary... If everything was kept hidden you'd be way worse off."

"Rabies barely exists anymore, Rob! Do you think I don't take care of myself?"

"It barely exists only because of the vaccine! There's no reason to put yourself in that kind of needless risk!"

"Ugh... Oh, well. Not like there's anything I can do right now. If they called the police, because technically this is petnapping, I could throw all of you under the bus and go back home by telling the authorities I'm not willingly coming with you. But of course I'd never do that."

"Even if you did that, I'd forgive you. I understand how confused you are right now, thanks for trying to understand."

Hobart buried his face deeper into Rob's hug. "They're my family, Rob. I might never see them again after getting dragged out by Mom like that... I know you hate them, I know Mom and Dad don't really care about them. But those are people I see every day, people I grew up with. They're not inseparable friends for me or anything, but still... This sucks. To have it all end because of some argument about stupid needles."

"Everything will be fine, Bart. Please stop sobbing." Rob got out of his hug, trying to also lie on the same bed as his brother. "Do you really believe the Earth is flat, by the way?"

His brother couldn't help but chuckle. "Is this really the best time to bring that up?"

"Let's lighten up. Things surrounding your family are still too uncertain, let's stop talking about that for the moment. You're gonna live in the city for a while, then we'll find you the best rural area ever, with a loving, *responsible*, human family. And your life will end up better and safer. Just put that in your head for the moment."

"I hope that'll be the case, Rob."

"It will. Unless you decide to stay in NYC. But I won't try to convince you or anything. I hate people telling me I'm stupid for living in a cramped city, I'll stop being a hypocrite and respect your preference for a rural place in turn."

"Thank you... And no, I don't believe the Earth's flat. It's only my human-brother who's into that stuff. A few days ago he was talking about the moon landings being fake at the dinner table, actually got into an argument with Michael, because he's pretty patriotic, you know."

Rob nodded. "Right."

"Martin's actually very like you, he loves his computer, cellphone, dreams of getting a good job in the big city and moving out. Hasn't been lucky with that, though."

"Shame. But judging by his physics knowledge, it's pretty obvious why he's stuck here."

"Don't diss him, Rob... Where did you learn all of that, anyways? You're a pet dog, why did you sound like a college professor there?"

Rob chuckled. "I'm flattered, Bart. I spend time on the Internet like him too. And you get people with his same views regurgitating that B.S. all over any video that's vaguely about space, that's why I knew about every point he was going to make and how to argue against them. That and knowing some stuff about cartography just out of curiosity."

"Oh. I didn't know that stuff he believes in was actually mainstream."

"He had to learn it from somewhere, didn't he? But yeah, it's annoying. Can't watch a video about the International Space Station without some weirdos thinking they're forensics experts, pointing out small compression artifacts in the video thinking that proves it's 'C.G.I.' or whatever. And then there's some people who I believe just have some type of schizophrenia, because they start posting these really weird quotes in Old English randomly."

"Hahaha! What? What are they like?"

"It's like, a bunch of 'thou's and 'thy's and they keep typing 'Lord' in all-caps. Then they finish it with a random word like, 'Revelation', and then random numbers."

"Really, Rob? Those are Bible verses. Do you seriously not know that?"

"They are?! Of course I wouldn't know that, I'm not very interested in mythology. And I can't say I'm missing a lot, judging by how cryptic and ominously dogmatic all the quotes are."

"Oh, Rob... You know, if our parents and my owners had switched places, and you revealed to our parents that you've never read anything from the Bible while also calling it 'mythology', they'd have the same reaction they had for knowing I wasn't getting my shots."

"Hehe. One family worries about their dog dying of a preventable disease, the other family worries about their dog going to Hell. In the end, they just want the best for us, when you think about it."

"God would never punish someone for just not knowing about the Bible, don't be ignorant. And all dogs go to Heaven anyways."

"Ugh, that's a terrible movie."

"What?!"

Shields Residence, Astoria, Queens, Sunday 1:18 PM

Rob left his parents' house alone, waiting for some discussion Shane was having with Hobart and his parents before leaving for their new home. He leaned on the front stairs' railing and looked at a man and a cat moving furniture out of a moving truck and into the other half of his parents' duplex.

He started thinking to himself. "Heh. Guess I'm not the only one moving today."

"Let's take a look at the plates... Illinois? Phew, quite a move. Unless that's just some truck that never bothered changing them. Doesn't beat the California plates you see around sometimes... Or the Hawaiian ones."

"Or that Russian one, I think that was in Brooklyn? Around the Slope?" Rob was soon lost in thought.

"Hey! What are you staring at?" Some voice came from Rob's side, him looking at a brown dog. "Got nothing better to do than staring at us moving stuff? Scram!"

Rob was taken aback before chuckling a little. "I'm just waiting for some people, I'll be gone in a few minutes, don't worry. Sorry."

"Do you live here?"

"No, my parents do."

"You don't live with your parents?"

"No. They gave me away to a human family after raising me."

The stranger furrowed his brows. "What?"

"My *real* *dog* parents live here, but I live with my human owner. Is it really that hard to understand? Mind your own business." Rob spat and got back to looking at the truck rather than the dog.

The other dog paced around the truck before deciding to talk to Rob again. "Uh. Do you know of any local dog clubs around? Maybe ones that need a strong leadership?"

"Huh. Interesting question... There's the Club for the Cosmopolitan Dog, it's near Rainey Park, about a half hour walk from here. The local dogs just call it the 'Cosmopolitan Club'. Heard of it?"

"Uh... Yeah! Thanks for reminding me."

"You're welcome. Where are you moving from? Hope you enjoy Astoria, I sure did when I was a pup."

"Uuh... I'm moving from... South... Manhattan."

"'South Manhattan'? Like, L.E.S. or something?"

"Wha- I mean, sure!"

"Hm. Kind of a downgrade, in my opinion. But I guess it's probably more spacious. Or are you moving to a worse place to save on money?"

"OK, how about *you* mind your own business this time? Humph. I don't need to-" The dog suddenly widened his eyes. "Wait a freaking second, you're not that dog from Central Park, are you?"

"Uh. Of course I've been there, but there are millions of dogs that could be 'that dog from Central Park' by that definition."

"You're the one from the club! Rob! Your little golden tag, of course!"

"Are you the dog who was complaining about ca-" Rob now widened his eyes. "Of course you are! Bino! Finally seeing you in person after all these forum hijinks! How are things going?" Rob stopped leaning on the railing and approached Bino, who was standing on the sidewalk.

"How is your crazy club going, rather? What were you all thinking with the cat leader thing?! It's an outrage!"

"Oh, just shut the *** up, Bino. Leave that *** for the forums or for the club visits. I know you don't like cats, I don't have an opinion on them, so there's no point for this terrible hostility. Especially considering I'm the weakest link in the club's Founder Council and I haven't touched the place in days, I'm barely in charge of anything. Act like somebody who's not a deranged egomaniac for once, at least for a few minutes." Rob rebuked firmly.

Bino stared briefly, surprised by the sudden vulgarities. "Uh. I'll make a formal complaint once I have the time, then. Excuse me."

"Thank you very much." Rob bowed exaggeratedly. "Now, again. How are things going?"

"What do you think? Terribly! Just got dragged back to this city here, thanks to the insane cat I live with. All my connections, the whole empire I built in Babylon Gardens through the decades, all ruined in days! I'm back to square one!"

"Your little club, right? You were the sole leader there, how did everything work out with you leaving?"

"It's being run by Rex and Duchess now. I'm still a very important long-distance overseer, but with me not being able to see all the fruits of my labor, what's the point?"

"Yeah. That must suck. Who are 'Rex and Duchess'? I don't know who your pals are."

"Pretty much the only dog close to me who didn't decide to backstab me horribly down the line and the love of my life." Bino briefly daydreamed.

Rob nodded. "Sounds fair, hope things go well for the folk there."

"I was meaning to leave the club in a better state, just ready for the leadership shuffle, but I was suddenly swamped with last-minute stuff just before the moving day. Had to attend my brother's funeral yesterday, that destroyed the whole day's plans."

The Retriever stared at Bino briefly, surprised and saddened. "Oh... I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a brother, I'm so sorry."

Bino got briefly confused by the reaction before mentally smacking himself. "Oh! Uh, it wasn't a funeral *for* my brother. It was a funeral *organized* by my brother. My brothers are fine. At least physically."

"Oh. I mean, it's still a funeral. Was it for one of his friends?"

"I *very* *much* *hope* it was only a friend! His pet rat died, I think it was called 'Squeak' or something, because of course it was. He was somehow inconsolable by the tiny thing dying. I couldn't care less, but, you know, gotta be a good brother and be with him during these moments." He boasted.

Rob chuckled. "Some empathy is appreciated, although I can't imagine hanging out with a rat. Especially in New York out of all places. Did it get eaten or something, some kind of tragedy?"

Bino shook his head. "Nah. Some sudden illness. A tumor, I think. Old age stuff, you know? You're all fine, then suddenly your body just fails in the span of a month. I think his rat was like, eighteen or something. I don't know how long rats live, but that seems like well enough."

The other dog nodded. "Yeah. Still, my condolences. I don't know why I feel like telling you this before anyone else, but why the howl not. I met a pig a few days ago in a faraway rural house, right on the day he was supposed to be slaughtered. We had a super existential talk and one day later, there I was, having to eat the meat of someone who I had just talked to a day earlier. It broke me a little, and I can't even imagine seeing the body of someone who I've spent most of my life with, rather than just a few minutes."

Bino shrugged. "It's a pig, Rob. Come on. Are you gonna have pigs take over your club at some point now too? If anything, talking to my future food would just make it taste better for me. It'd make me feel glad to be born a dog, Earth's top species! The top of the food chain! Sucks for the pig. I'd just find the pig and then brag that I'm gonna eat its innards and that death would come for it quickly. Maybe even try to hunt it myself instead of leaving that for the humans. I am a honorary wolf, after all."

"If dogs are 'Earth's top species' why do you wanna be a honorary wolf?"

"Uh... Shut up."

Rob laughed. "Fair enough." His parents' house's front door suddenly opened, only Hobart coming out.

"Rob!" Hobart called, walking towards the two talking dogs on the sidewalk. "Shane's almost ready! Let's hope I can tolerate your house for the next week or so. Who's this friend of yours?" Hobart joined the two dogs.

"Bino." Rob answered simply. "A particularly very anti-cat club member I know. Fine dude, really. He's moving right next to Mom and Dad's house."

"I'm not a member!" Bino shot back immediately. "Don't tarnish my reputation like that!"

"You care more about it than most members. You're a 'honorary member' just for that. You like honorarily being things, don't you?"

"I'm gonna stay away from your crazy club, just you wait!"

"Just I wait! You see, Bart? He's a funny guy."

"Ugh. I'm not a fan of constant aggressive ribbing like that, but I can see how you two are friends." Hobart responded. "Let's head to Shane's car then, Bro. Go ahead and finish your talk."

"This isn't ribbing!" Bino objected angrily. "Your brother loves cats, just be aware of that!"

"So do I! They're delicious!" Rob's brother left the two, walking towards the car.

"See you later then, Bino. Enjoy New York! Welcome back!" Rob waved and followed his brother, Bino remained speechless after Hobart's last sentence.

The two brothers started waiting, leaning on the parked car at the house's side. "You haven't eaten cat meat, have you?" Rob asked quietly.

Hobart shook his head while laughing lightly. "Of course not. Just continuing the ribbing."

"Right... I tried out dog meat abroad once. Absolutely terrible, don't know what I was expecting."

"What?!"
Last edited by Wortge on Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really wonderful job with this! I love how it has come out!
Wortge
Posts: 63
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

New Harlow Residence, Midtown Manhattan, Sunday 2:09 PM

The two Golden Retriever brothers arrived at the front door of the new condo, proceeding to wait for Shane, who was lagging behind while trying to find the house keys.

"Did we seriously spend one hour in traffic just to cross a river?" Hobart started complaining to Rob. "I'm already remembering why I don't miss this region at all." He rolled his eyes.

"That was only thirty minutes or so, come on." Rob replied. "I bet you would've loved the city back in April, traffic was pretty sparse back then."

"Because everyone had to flee the city or die? No, thanks."

"Shane's still alive here." Rob shrugged, chuckling. "And stuff was deserted because the humans were inside their homes, not away."

Shane arrived at the door, the two dogs moving away from it to let him open it. "Here we go, Rob!" The human tried to hype. "Our first day here!"

The three entered the residence, Rob trying to remember what he saw during his earlier visit and compare it to now. Looking around the living room, the TV and sofa had been replaced by the more modest ones from his old house. Some particularities he barely remembered were now noticeably missing, like a black grand piano, the computer previously at one of the room's corners and many paintings that used to be hanged around. Shane looked at Rob, gauging his reaction, while Hobart just waited for the two to say something.

"I love it, Shane!" Rob cheered. "This is the first time in months I'm tempted to watch the TV, just to appreciate this view from behind it."

Shane chuckled while locking the front door. "Check the rest of it out, too." He turned towards Hobart now. "And what do you think, Hobart?"

"Oh, it's alright." The dog tried to be nice to the barely-acquainted human. "A bit tiny, but I know stuff here is designed to make sure a lot of people can live in a very small land area."

"You would've hated our last place if this is tiny for you. I don't think we'll even need to take turns using the hallways anymore."

"Yeah, that sounds bad." Hobart approached his brother, who was waiting while leaning on the glass windows, looking at the city. "Are you gonna do something, Rob?"

"I'm gonna check out my room eventually. Probably gonna use my PC for a few hours and then go somewhere for the evening."

Hobart joined Rob in looking at the view. "And the first thing you do in your new house, is to look outside. I guess you didn't really like it then? Considering you just wanna admire the rest of the world from it." He laughed.

"Just checking it out before I lock myself inside my room... Don't you think it's cool to look at? Every single thing you see from here is world-famous. Some people all over the world have lifelong dreams of visiting this city, and I get to just live here, enjoying what people might consider their best vacation ever, at any time I want."

"Some people have lifelong dreams of moving away from here too." Hobart smirked. "But it does look cool, all the buildings just getting on the way of other buildings, stretching on for miles. I appreciate it, I just don't wanna live in it. Isn't that what you say about natural landscapes too?"

"Yeah. Almost word-for-word." Rob put an arm around his brother. "Let's go to my room then, Bart. It's upstairs." He started walking towards where he remembered Lisa's room being.

"Upstairs? Apartments can have two floors?"

"Of course. Didn't you see the big opening to the second floor there?" He pointed at the railing on the second floor visible from the living room. "Did you think that was another apartment?"

"I didn't notice it. But I wouldn't even find it strange if I found out your neighbors could just spy on you watching TV in this cramped space."

"You were sleeping in your doghouse back there. You can't get any less private than that."

"Yes, you can. I could be getting tied up to a post in front of the house at night. Just sleeping in the elements."

"Bart! What?! They weren't doing that to you, were they?! I'm telling Dad if they were!" Rob shouted with alarm as he opened the door to his room and both got in.

Hobart snickered. "Of course not. My owners aren't terrible people. I honestly hope all of this can end with everything going back to normal, but I think everyone's gone too far by now. You three forced me to choose between my biological and my adoptive family. Of course I'm gonna choose my real family, even with you all living far away, I just wish things didn't have to go so insane so quickly."

Rob sat down at his desk while Hobart began lying on Rob's bed. "Ah, Bro! Just look at this new setup! I can just play games and use the Internet while always having this view of the city! Bank of America Tower!" He started pointing from his desk after turning the computer on. "Rockefeller Center! Empire State Building! One World Trade Center! I can't wait for nighttime!"

"Very cool, Rob." His brother replied dismissively, still lying on the bed, face up.

"This desk here is my old one, I guess Shane had to move it to here. Is the bed fine? It's definitely not mine, I think it came with the house."

"It's pure bliss." Hobart pushed his body against the mattress, bouncing a little. "I have very little experience sleeping on a human bed, maybe this isn't that good for you, I dunno. It definitely beats the one at the emergency inn from yesterday though."

"Even my old bed would, though. But that's the uncivilized world for you. Can't even do a bed right."

"Rob!" Hobart sat up, glaring at his sibling. "You promised you'd stop dissing my home!"

"And what makes you think I am? I'm clearly talking about the Lake George region, not New York City, which's your home."

"No, no, no! You know I'm only here for a week or so! Don't you dare force this into being a permanent affair!"

Rob laughed. "I won't, I'm just kidding... You've been complaining about New York nonstop since the car entered the metropolitan region. 'Agh! I can't believe we just spent two minutes stopped inside of a traffic jam, I'm having a panic attack!'" He mocked with a high-pitched voice. "'These brown towers are so ugly! Ugh!' Now I have to balance things out. And Lake George isn't your 'home' anymore anyways. Who even knows where it's gonna be."

Hobart saddened, proceeding to lie on the bed again. "Right." He sighed. "Where do you think is the ideal place for me? Try to use your geographic knowledge to help me here, please."

"Uh, let's see... Trees, lakes... Tromsø."

"Huh?"

"Tromsø, Norway. Large town centered in an island surrounded by mountains in the north of the country. Incredible scenery, frequent auroras, very interesting day-night cycles. It's a metropolis compared to Bolton, but you can live in some house in the outskirts, it turns into wilderness fast, it's in a pretty isolated region."

"Uh, are you telling me to move out of the country? That's not in America, is it?"

"No, it isn't. You asked me for the ideal place, what made you think it'd be a place in this country? That's only like, five percent of the world, very small chance I'd end up choosing a place in the United States."

"Ugh. Come on, Rob! You know I can't just move to Norway!"

"You can though. Finding a human family in Tromsø that wants a dog and is willing to import one from New York City is probably impossible, but there's this little thing called 'self-ownership'. You just sign up for that and you're free to move to Norway as if you're your own owner. And before you complain about the language, everyone can speak English in Fennoscandia, although the Finnish have a rather comical accent."

"Are you talking about Norway or are you talking about 'Fennoscandia'?"

"Norway is *in* Fennoscandia." Rob facepalmed. "Ugh, Americans." He complained sarcastically.

"What's the ideal place for me in America, then?"

"This room right here. I love you and want to forever live together with you."

"Don't guilt-trip me! Come on!"

Rob giggled. "I'll stop, sorry. Uuh... Somewhere in the Poconos. Decently close to us, has everything you used to have there, probably."

"I'll keep that in mind. I thought you'd recommend some place out in the West. You want me to stay close, don't you?"

"Of course, Bart!... I could recommend you Yosemite Valley, pretty much the Manhattan of natural beauty. But I don't think you'd appreciate all the tourists. I don't even know if that place has residents."

"If you want me to stay close why did you recommend me Norway before?"

"Because I'd rather have to fly to Norway to visit you than have to fly to California."

"Oh, right. Flights. Suddenly your suggestion for the Poconos got way more appealing to me."

"Haha... We should both try to go out a lot during your stay here, you know? Maybe you'll love the city now. We have everything that Bolton could also offer you, except for maybe all the squirrel-shooting. What do you have in mind?"

Hobart sighed. "I wanna just leave through the front door of this house and be immediately greeted by the great outdoors, not a hallway. And then, from there, I wanna walk to a beautiful lake and lounge there for a few minutes, calmly listening to the trees rustling while watching the sunset. Can New York do that?"

"We can try!" Rob smirked. "First part is impossible without living in some row house, and those things don't have an amazing view like this place, pass. Central Park is just minutes from here, though. Let's walk there later today, alright? We're gonna find a lake and relax there."

"Central Park?" Hobart repeated scornfully. "That place's a sorry attempt at trying to look 'natural', please. People, footpaths and roads all over the place, carefully-placed rocks to the point it looks obviously fake. Giant steel monoliths visible from behind the trees at all times. And all those 'lakes' there are probably reservoirs for the city sewer, yuck!"

"Hah. What about the ocean? You haven't seen it in a while, have you?"

"Hmm. Good one, Rob. I haven't. I'd love checking it out while I'm here."

"There you go. We need to have Shane drive us there, though. Gotta take the Midtown tunnel, then the L.I.E., the B.Q.E., and then the Belt Parkway. That's an optimistic half hour of driving. Either that or we take the Q or the N train to there."

Hobart covered his eyes in exasperation. "Let's just walk to the park then. Holy moly."

"Car rides are fun, Bart. Even with traffic jams. I'm probably in the minority though, I'll keep that in mind."

"What about me riding my quad to there?"

"I don't think that'd fly here, even with helmets and documentation. Where did your quad end up in, anyways?"

"It's back in Mom and Dad's place. As well as all the guns. I left some stuff in Shane's car, though."

"Why? I was wondering why you were coming here carrying nothing."

"It's nothing important." He shrugged. "Actually, I'm gonna go down there and bring everything here. Anything that can be an excuse for me stretching my legs for a while. Because I don't wanna spend my whole days here watching TV or looking down at the chaotic traffic of the city from the windows. See ya." Hobart got out of the bed.

"We're gonna have fun outside soon, Bro. Stop complaining. Remember to tell Shane's name to the garage attendant, he's the one with the car keys."

Hobart scratched his head. "Right. I can't just come up to our own car and open it as I please here... Headaches on top of headaches."

"Yeah, I don't like that too. This is the first time we have to depend on a garage instead of having our own spot."

"I better not have to go there with your owner." Hobart grumbled while leaving the room. Rob continued using the computer, trying to connect to the Internet before starting up a city-building game.

His brother returned to the room after several minutes with one of his backpacks, dropping it on the bed before lying on it again. "Missed me?" He asked while looking at Rob.

"It's kinda weird having a pet just living with me, tell you what." Rob observed. "Never would've thought that I'd go through what Xander just went through too."

"Who's that?"

"Big friend. Met him just after you left for Upstate, I think I've told you about him before."

"Probably."

"Do you have friends over there in Bolton? You've never said a word about them if you do."

"Not at all. It's just me and your new human enemies."

"Do you think they'll try to take you back? Fight us in some way?"

"No... I have no idea what Michael would do in case my parents just decided to take me back. I can't really imagine him calling the authorities, to be honest. But I also can't imagine him going in some kind of 'give me back my son' rampage like in those old movies."

"During that fight he kinda just stopped and watched. I was honestly fearing he'd try to stop Dad by force and they'd start biting and punching. I'm really glad that didn't happen."

"I'm so relieved all of that happened during dinner. If Michael had been armed, maybe he would've shot Buster. I can't even imagine where we would be if that had happened."

"Don't even make me picture that, Bart." Rob whined. "Gosh."

"Sorry." He sat up on the bed and looked at Rob's monitor. "Let me do something here other than pretending I'm trying to sleep, what are you doing?"

"I'm looking at a recreation of Central Tokyo. You can even see the individual people walking and driving around, riding the trains, etcetera."

Hobart scooted over to as close as possible to Rob's desk from the bed. "Oh, that's cool. Tokyo is in Japan, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"See? I know my fair bit of geography."

"Everyone knows in what country Tokyo is, Hobart. Come on now."

"You'd be surprised."

"Is that some kind of diss on your old town? Hah! Here we go! Assimilation ten percent complete!"

"What? I mean people generally don't know that, not that it's an issue exclusive to Bolton. Do you think everyone here in New York City is a scholar?"

"If all you need to get that title is to know where Tokyo is, then sure."

"Haha. I think that's what we're gonna do today. Let's go outside and interview people, ask them if they know in what country Tokyo is."

"Ugh, Bart. I'm not outgoing enough for that... And we shouldn't disturb pedestrians like that, those are busy people who have places to be."

"Oh, right. I forgot everyone here is constantly in a hurry and miserable."

The two kept silent for a few minutes, Hobart going back to lying and turning the small TV in the room on. He lowered the volume to a point where the speech couldn't be properly understood, just idly watching the screen.

"What's in the backpack you brought here, Bro?" Rob decided to break the silence.

"Camping equipment, first-aid kits, binoculars, can't really remember the rest."

"Hmm... Don't think you'll have much use for that stuff here."

"I know. That's why I didn't bother getting that out of the car at first... I'm just keeping all my workshop stuff here for when I move somewhere else, somewhere where I have a use for it. And I guess by bringing this from the car trunk to your apartment it's now at least safer. Who knows how often stuff gets stolen in that garage."

"Who knows... Did anything you own end up getting left there in your old house?"

"Uuh... My doghouse?"

"Is that all?"

"I guess? My guns are with our parents. So is the ATV, some food, stuff for shooting, stuff for fishing... My camping stuff's here. I don't think I've missed anything. I stored everything in my workshop, being organized pays off, you know?"

"Right. I actually left my phone's charger there, I remember leaving it on top of some shelf, so that sucks. There's also all the blankets and pillows and spare collars in our baggage, but that's nothing."

"Oh yeah. You three had your own baggage there, but when we fled to the hotel you all just grabbed my stuff. What happens to your phone, then?"

"I can charge it with the USB cable by connecting it to the PC." Hobart briefly looked away from the TV to check Rob's charging phone on his desk. "I just noticed we don't have Internet here yet, so I tried setting up my phone as a router. But to connect the PC to that network it needs its Wi-Fi adapter, and dog knows where the howl that would be now. Half of the stuff in my desk's drawer's just missing now... Oh well, the things you do for an amazing view and some extra space."

"Speaking of the view." Hobart reached for his backpack, opening it and grabbing the binoculars from it. "Let's see how far I can see with this. I'm rarely ever this high up, this is a good opportunity." He stood up and started looking through the room's large glass windows with his binoculars.

"Tell me when you're done, because I definitely wanna do that too." Rob wagged in anticipation.

"'Comcast', 'Metlife'." He read from nearby skyscrapers. "Even from up here, every building you see is still trying to sell you something."

"Not really ads, they're just telling you what corporation's inside the building."

"Uh-huh..." Hobart soon stopped his sightseeing and put the binoculars on Rob's desk. "Here you go. How's Tokyo doing?" He tried to bring his game into the conversation.

"Fine. I love how it turned out. I handcrafted all of this, you know?"

Hobart widened his eyes, starting to look at Rob's gameplay with more attention. "What?! You made all of these roads and buildings?"

"I *placed* all of them. Making the models and assets is a different skillset."

"Do you miss Tokyo or something? Why spend so much time on this when they have those 3D maps online anyways?"

"You can't see the city working on Google Earth, Hobart. Here you can see every resident going places, you can make it nighttime, you can throw meteors at the city, if that's your thing. It's not just a fancy model."

Hobart nodded. "I see."

"With this view from my desk now, I'm honestly tempted to start doing a recreation of New York. That's super overdone already, but who else can recreate parts of the city by just looking behind their monitor, rather than checking a map?"

"Hah. How about you recreate a place people want to live in instead? Stop torturing your virtual humans by making concrete labyrinths for them."

Rob shrugged. "I could recreate a rural area like Lake George here if I wanted to. My CPU would be relieved, at least... A bit too easy though, all that place has is some water, trees, and five houses. Boom! Done!"

"Why do you like sharing your neighborhood with millions of people so much?"

"Because those millions of people bring in countless options for entertainment. I know you spent all of your time outside back there, you can do the same here."

"Go outside to spend hours in a line trying to enter a building? Yeah, that's a great life." He replied sarcastically.

"As opposed to not having a building to enter at all." Rob shot back. "Those lines are for humans, by the way. If you're not one you can just skip them and grab one of the free seats between the humans."

"Isn't everything closed here this year anyways?"

"No. Not at all. You can go outside, do stuff you wanna do without waiting or extreme crowding, don't take that for granted though, right now things are like, seventy percent 'normal'. You can also go walk in the woods freely. You haven't lost *anything* you used to have by moving here, Bart! When will you finally realize that?"

"Stop saying Central Park is a good substitute for the wilderness! It isn't! How would you feel if you had to move to my old home and I kept insisting Bolton's main street is a good substitute for Midtown Manhattan?!"

"I'd laugh with contempt... Let's go out already, Bart." Rob suddenly stood up, turning the monitor off. "You got to drag me to a lot of menial stuff back in Bolton, let me do the same to you." He put an arm around Hobart.

"Ugh. I hope I don't get mugged." Hobart grumbled as the two Retrievers made their way towards the condo's entrance, Rob silently waving towards Shane, who was still dealing with organizing the residence after moving.

"That's like me being afraid of getting attacked by wildlife back in your old place. And I never voiced those fears to you out of courtesy, please do the same."

"I'm going back to Mom's and grabbing at least my pistol back as soon as possible."

"Are dogs allowed to concealed carry? Obviously I never paid attention to that kinda stuff."

"Who can stop me? They're not gonna take my guns away from me."

"Hahaha! There it is, the most Rural American sentence in history."

"Shut up, commie."

56th Street, Midtown Manhattan, Sunday 3:12 PM

The two dogs left the tower's main entrance, turning left and starting to walk along the canyon-like road.

"Ah, the great outdoors!" Hobart boasted sarcastically, following behind Rob. "Gotta love being confined to this tiny strip of sidewalk, always risking dying immediately by stepping on the asphalt."

"The constant dangers of the outside, right?"

"Why did you leave so soon, anyways? Bored of your new house already?"

"I'll hopefully have decades and more decades to enjoy my new place, Bart. What did you want me to do, hug the walls until it's time for bed?"

"Uh, yeah. I can see you doing that."

"I just tried out my computer for a while. That's what I mostly do when I'm home anyways. *Way* better experience than my other home, by the way. I love it!"

"Isn't it lacking Internet?"

"It's always good to take a break sometimes. Don't wanna end up like Xander."

"Uh, what's wrong with him? You keep mentioning your friends like you expect me to know them."

"Hmm... Do you wanna meet them? I visit them regularly. They live around College Point, you know, the neighborhood you stayed last time you visited me."

"Yeah, I remember that place. A bit packed with houses but you could at least see the sky."

"Yeah, yeah. Houses are awesome and skyscrapers are evil, I know." Rob rolled his eyes, turning right and starting to follow a avenue, uptown. "Wanna meet them or not? I usually call a Uber to get there, public transport in that place is awful."

"I'll go with you, Bro. Sure... Aren't those 'car-sharing services' dangerous, though?"

"No! There's layers and layers of safety precautions made to ensure your driver isn't some random killer! Will I really have to defend my methods of transportation again?!"

Hobart flinched at the sudden outburst. "Uh, I'll protect you, alright? The day we go there, I can stop by Mom's and grab my pistol."

Rob shot his brother a worried look. "You might get into trouble with that. Just saying... When even was the last time someone used a gun to defend themselves? That's all paranoid fiction made to justify archaic laws."

"What?! People defend themselves with guns all the time! You can't just say you're safer by walking around unarmed, especially here!"

"Do they 'defend themselves' from life-threatening situations or do they 'defend themselves' by shooting some small-time robber to death? All I see coming from gun nuts is them fantasizing about murdering some poor victim of circumstance threatening to steal a bit of all their hoarded cash."

"What?! 'Victim of circumstance'? What does that even mean?! Nothing justifies theft, Rob! Nothing!"

"Nothing justifies murder! Nothing justifies a system that lets billions starve because they lack something a handful of people hoard by the billions by exploiting the masses!"

"Hahaha! Are you serious, Rob?! You're gonna soapbox right after leaving your little luxury apartment? You could sell the thing and feed an entire African village for years with the money, but you're not gonna do that, are you? You're just gonna yell about how unfair everything is while benefiting from it the most, just to make yourself look good, aware, 'woke'. It's like I'm talking to a political late night talk show host, look at yourself, Rob."

Rob sighed while massaging his forehead with one paw. "I really don't wanna have this discussion, Bart. Especially with my own brother. Sorry. Let's move on."

"So you're gonna let me carry my pistol around?"

"At no point I thought of prohibiting you. I'm just advising you against it. But you do you."

"Alright."

"Ever thought of getting a taser? Or just pepper spray? Even I carry that around."

"Ah! Really? So you do carry some self-defense with you!"

"Yeah, but it's not something to kill people with, it's just for stunning them so I can escape. And we're veering back into that discussion again, cease."

"Heh. Let's 'cease' then... So, anyways. How are you enjoying your new home? Kinda funny that both you and me got to see it for the first time at the same time."

"I've been there before, you can't just buy a new place blindly. It's amazing. Central, spacious living, everything I could want. I'd like a balcony, but not at such a high floor."

"'Spacious' is quite a stretch, especially considering it takes minutes for you to actually get outside. And then you're immediately bounded by walls and cars."

"I'm trying to rectify that right now. You're seeing all those trees there at the end of the avenue, right? We're going there."

"Yeah, I figured that already." Hobart sighed with disdain. "You're gonna try to convince me this place isn't so bad by dragging me to that sorry attempt at 'nature'."

"It's this or nothing. It's either this or staying in the woods and dying of rabies, just the eternal nothingness of death."

"I'd never die of rabies, Rob! Big hypocrite you are, always complaining about the 'dumb New Yorkers' leaving the city because they're afraid of catching turbo-flu or whatever. And then you just turn around saying that everyone should escape the rural areas because of rabies, which kills way less people."

"One is preventable and always lethal, the other isn't. You had to leave because of your crazy humans, not just because of rabies... I just can't wait until all those smug traitors who fled have to go back to work. Realizing that they lived in a small apartment right next to their Manhattan office for a reason. Enjoy your new three-hour-long commute now! Hope you can enjoy your new big house in your four hours of free time! Oh, let me guess? Got too tired of that, now you wanna just leave the New York region 'for good'? Go ahead! Just found an amazing deal in West Virginia? Go ahead! Oh, there's nothing to do outside anymore? Too bad! Oh, there's nowhere to work in your new town? Too bad! Oh, now you ran out of money and have to move to a trailer that ended up being smaller than your old Manhattan place? Too bad! But hey, at least you escaped all the sick people and all the looting, right? Too bad it's now 2025 and nobody gives a *** anymore! While you ruining your life is permanent!"

Hobart looked at Rob with disgust. "You just went from complaining about the unfairness of capitalism to just mocking poor people, Rob. That's rich. Literally." He deadpanned.

"New York City refugees deserve no rights, don't take that too seriously."

"I don't think people owe their 'loyalty' to the place they happened to be born in. Just saying. Calling them 'traitors' for leaving a city is really over-the-top. And I'm part of that group, you know?"

"I'm joking, Bart, come on. And no, you're not, you're back here now, how are you enjoying your new home?"

"It's not my new home! You're not gonna force me to live here! Mom and Dad aren't gonna let you!"

"Hah! We'll see about that! I understand preferring somewhere rural if you live in some tiny studio, but living in my new condo, there's no way you'll want to move anywhere else!"

"Oh, 'we'll see about that' indeed! How did Shane even afford that new place, anyways?"

"It's a gift, he didn't buy it. It's a gift from Brian, one of my best friends."

"Uh, which one's that again?"

"The one who manages the dog club I've talked about, you know?"

Hobart furrowed his brows. "Uh. Isn't he... A dog?"

"Yeah, Brian is a dog. A fellow Golden Retriever, even."

"How did he gift your human an apartment?!"

"He's making a lot of money now." Rob shrugged. "Even with no money of his own, he still founded the club because he wanted to do something 'for the community'. Imagine now, that he actually has a lot of money and no idea on what to do with it, money that just keeps coming in and in. Everyone surrounding him will become a millionaire at this rate."

"A dog with millions? Haha, that's just weird."

"Not really as uncommon as you'd expect. Haven't you heard of the ferrets that inherited a corporation, years ago?"

"Vaguely. I know they inherited a fortune, they didn't work for it. And I also know they immediately ran the company into the ground."

"They didn't though, it's struggling, but it's not collapsing. And what isn't struggling in this economy?" The two dogs finally entered the park after crossing a street.

"Is your friend also struggling?"

"No. I just talked about money coming in and in for him. If anything, he's been really taking off recently. But that's because of his line of work, he deals with pet employment, and with the huge restrictions on human-to-human contact earlier this year, demand for pet employees and emancipation from humans soared."

"Oh, that's what he deals with? Don't the ferrets mentioned earlier also do that?"

"Do they? Ask Brian about them, he has very strongly negative opinions on whatever they're doing. They're big advocates for complete equality between humans and all other animals, which really makes no sense if you think about it for more than five seconds. You can't have full rights for every cow, every rat, every fish, every worm. You either have selective rights depending on species or no rights unless you're human."

"Oh, I see that. Just preaching about making all lifeforms equal while munching on your little pellets of processed beef. That's just rich. Also literally."

"Yeah, that's them in a nutshell. The 'Miltons', I believe." The two walked in silence, looking at the lawns of the park. "Are you enjoying the park?" Rob spoke again.

"Of course not! You were back in Lake George just some hours ago, you know darn well this isn't what nature looks like. All these footpaths crowded with humans and pets. This constant drone of the city in the background. Why is there a fence here?!" Hobart lightly kicked a small metal fence next to the footpath for emphasis. "Do they not want people stepping on the grass?! I'm pretty sure constantly breathing in all this smoggy air is worse for the plant than just getting stepped on!"

"Jeez, Bart." Rob saddened, whining. "What would make you happy here? I just wanna see you brighten up a little. I love you, Bro."

Hobart began to regret his harshness. "Oh, Robbie. I'm sorry." He apologized sadly. "How about we lie on the top of that obviously real rock there?" He pointed at a large rock formation jutting from the nearby lawn. "That could be nice."

"Of course!" Rob immediately regained his cheerfulness, trotting towards the rock. "All these rocks are real, by the way, they're called the Manhattan Schist."

The brothers began lying near the top of the outcrop, both on their sides, relaxing, facing the same direction. Rob put his arms around Hobart and hugged him from behind after some moments.

"Come on, Rob." Hobart complained quietly. "You're making us look like lovers."

"So what? I do love you."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean that, uuh... You know..."

"I *know* what you mean, Bart! I don't care! I'll hug my brother as much as I please! No matter what people who don't know we're family might think of us!"

"Uh. Whatever, then. Sorry. Nobody seeing us even knows us, after all."

"That's right! Anonymity, one of the best perks of living in a city! I can hug my dear brother as much as I please, without having to worry about 'Betty from church' seeing us and spreading wrong gossip around, telling the whole town that 'Mike's dog is gay' or something."

"But in that case she'd know we're brothers."

"Well. I did say that your family could pass off as being from Alabama, so-"

"Rob! Stop that joke this instant!"

"Alright, sorry... Apologies to the people from the South. It's a fine region, really. I like Atlanta."

"Of course you like Atlanta. What about the places outside of the main cities?"

"Uuh... The roads there are... Fine."

"Haha, diss it all you want, Rob. I wouldn't want to move to rural Georgia or Florida or whatever either."

"The urban elitist teams up with the rural elitist! We two are unstoppable!"

"Just tell us where you're from and we'll tell you why it's garbage, yeah!" Hobart looked curiously at some of the visitors on the nearby footpath visible from the top of the rock. "Is that a wolf?" He subtly pointed at a large gray-furred canine walking among the people.

"Uuh." Rob raised his head to peek from behind his brother. "Yeah, that's a gray wolf."

"And why is it just walking around the park? How does its pack even survive in this park alone?"

"That's not a wild wolf, Bart. Come on. You can make out its ID tags from here... *Her* ID tags, sorry."

"Yeah. I know how seriously pronouns are treated by the folk around here. Wouldn't wanna get that wrong."

Rob chuckled quietly. "Come on, Bart. Are you seriously going there?"

"Anyways... About the wolf, do you usually see pet wolves around here? That one isn't even with her owner, where's animal control?"

"She's a pet! What would animal control even do? She's just visiting the park like everyone else. Very likely a self-owned wolf. They somehow get themselves some money, pay for some self-ownership company to register them as their pet, get some work to pay for that. And there they go, living life as a city-dwelling wolf."

"Really? I've never heard of that."

"Yeah, you get some wolves living here... I've seen foxes, raccoons, even a deer once. If you're not a 'tamed' species you gotta take a test called 'General Obedience' or something, Brian told me about that once, don't really remember the details, it was just during some idle chatting."

"Hah. No wonder you were so outraged at me hunting. You come from a place where the wildlife can just teach itself to join human civilization, what a mad world."

"Pretty sure all those self-owned non-humans are free to move to Bolton if they desire. If you shot some squirrel there who turned out to be self-owned and just forgot to wear their tag or something, you'd be in serious trouble. It'd be like shooting someone's pet dog."

"Jeez. It's kinda their fault though. I'd never shoot an animal with a tag. If you go outside wearing absolutely nothing, you're always at risk of being mistaken for wildlife, everybody knows that."

"I don't think going outside without a collar warrants the death penalty, Hobart. That seems a bit hasty."

"Oh, shut up, Rob. You're being disingenuous and you know it. Going out in the woods without a collar when you're a pet is stupid and can easily result in your death. You can say the same about touching an electrified fence. Are you also going to say something like 'I don't think just touching a fence warrants a death penalty' now?"

"...You're right. You're actually right... It's just that simply walking outside without a tiny thing surrounding your neck, something so harmless and menial like that, could just rob you out of your life. It's a bit scary. It makes you realize how disadvantaged we are compared to humans."

"No! What?! You're set for life just for being born as a popular companion dog breed! You can't get more privileged than that! Billions of humans would trade places with you without thinking! Same applies to me, even! Shane will always be there to support you! Mom and Dad will always be there to support you! And if all of that fails, you wouldn't last a day in a shelter anyways! And I mean that as in you'd get adopted immediately, not killed by the dogs there or something."

"I'm aware of that. But dogs are far less protected than humans. Yeah, you can be born a Golden Retriever in New York City with two unusual parents, who want to take care of you for the rest of their lives and guarantee you a good life. But you can also be born a stray dog in an impoverished Indian metropolis. You can be born a farm dog who's expected to herd sheep for free in the middle of nowhere for the rest of your life. You can be born an 'excess puppy' of a planned litter, and the humans decide to just throw you into a river instead of going through the headaches of giving up a pet for adoption. You can be born in a place where they're breeding dogs for food, or for fighting. Humans don't face that, they can be born privileged and set for life, but if they're not, they have a chance of accomplishing things still. They have laws that prevent other humans from just going all 'you don't get to choose your life' on them."

"It's not comparable, Rob. *Most* dogs are set for life. Humans that are set for life are like, half a percent, at best. Humans have to worry about their money, their work, their bills, their education, I can't even wrap my head around everything! If you get adopted, it's almost certainly by a human who got all of that sorted out. You're guaranteed to be set for life because only the few humans who managed that can afford to bring you into their home."

"Not true. I guess you don't hear a lot of stories from other dogs, having spent most of your life in a less populated place. But I've heard about a lot of humans giving up their dogs for budgetary reasons, for example. Getting a pet isn't something only humans 'set for life' do, where did you even get that idea?"

"I mean, if I were a human. I'd decide to live with a dog under me only if I could guarantee them a very comfortable life."

"Yeah, that's not universal. But things are getting better and better for us. No public places are allowed to ban entry based on species anymore, for example. Unless it's for health-related reasons, as this year's explicitly demonstrated to us, with humans too, out of all species. Involuntary euthanasia for pets is completely banned, before that you could have shelters just killing groups of pets because they didn't have space and couldn't be bothered to transfer them to somewhere else. Leashes used to be required for simply going outside! You couldn't just walk outside by yourself, without some human observing and restricting you! That only stopped being required in 2000! I lived under that! And billions of pets still do! Even in this country!"

"You could use similar arguments for humans. What do you think happens to a human who decides to walk outside not wearing anything? And I'm pretty sure there are humans getting euthanized despite being completely healthy too."

"You mean the death penalty? That's punishment for a crime, Bart! Pet euthanasia used to be a punishment for simply existing!"

"No! It was only applied to 'unadoptable' pets! Pets with severe behavioral problems, pets with stuff like missing legs and mangled ears, stuff you only get by being stupid anyways."

"That or pets who are just born too ugly."

"Uuh... Maybe. But then it's just natural selection. Gotta keep the gene pool beautiful and handsome."

"Really, Bart? Don't disregard tragedy as 'natural selection', that's just gross." The conversation suddenly died out. Rob taking a moment to recollect some thoughts before starting again. "But like, my whole point here, is the fact that because we're expected to just be pampered by humans, expected to just have all of our financial needs taken care of, we end up being expected to also not have a voice, to not have a say in society, because we're seen as completely dependent on humans to live. And even with some pets working and paying to not have any human 'owner', they're still seen as something separate from the workforce, legally speaking."

"What's your point there? Do you just wanna vote? In *this* election, out of all of them?"

Rob snorted. "Maybe we'll get better ones some other years, who knows? My point is that we're all at the mercy of humans here. Is it really worth it for a life without major responsibilities?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Haha! You know what? I agree... I really don't even know what I'm arguing for here. I'm very fine with this worry-free life, and if I'm not allowed to vote, because I'm also not expected to pursue proper education, then so be it. Still worth it. It sucks for all the dogs who are actually schooled, or who decided to have their own jobs and responsibilities, but I'm not sacrificing my freedom for them... I just have a worry that like, some random day the mayor will just outlaw dogs in the city. It's outlandish, but it's actually possible, did you know? Just make some stuff up about dogs 'threatening a local, almost extinct bird species', sign an 'executive order' or whatever, and boom! Dogs now have to be kicked out of New York. There'd be giant protests, the order would be overturned in days, but it'd still cause a lot of suffering."

"Is the current mayor really that bad?"

"Heh. I dunno. I don't pay attention to politics, at least politicians-wise. Maybe not being allowed to vote is even a blessing, now that I think of it. Forget everything I said."

"Nah. I understood some of your points. Basically, pets are treated as less important than humans because we don't really do much, we're slowly being treated as more important, but we shouldn't reach the point were we're treated as *as* important as humans, because that would mean getting rid of all our pampering."

"Yeah. But like... It would also get rid of the fact that a lot of pets just don't have a chance at a good life at all... All these ethical dilemmas are giving me a headache, let's stop."

"Please."

"A long political discussion while hugging my brother on top of a rock. I really didn't expect today to take this turn."

"Wanna go somewhere else?"

"Of course. I don't want the rest of my life to be here." Rob nuzzled the back of Hobart's head after some silence. "I'm just so glad to have you here, Bart. I know you never wanted to come back here, I know I'm being super selfish by wanting you to suddenly decide you wanna live with me from now on, but... I love your company... I hate that this will have to end at some point, but I understand and respect your choice... I'm sorry for trying to convince you all the time. I always promise I'll stop doing that, but I never do."

"It's fine, Rob. No need to get all sentimental... Pretend I decided to stay right now, OK? Hug me with all your might, little bro!"

"'Little bro'? Pretty sure you came out after me."

"Uh, Dad told me I was the first one."

"No! Kessie was! I was the second one!"

"And who told you that?"

"Mom did! Clearly, she'd know more, birthing us and all."

"Hah! Of course not. Dog knows how delirious someone gets when they're giving birth."

"Let's ask that when we visit them, alright? For when we stop there so you can go grab your gun."

"Let's!" Hobart smirked and got up, Rob following him in getting out of the rock.

Beta-reading this, I realized I mixed up "Rob" and "Hobart" at least three times in the narration, way to make things harder for myself with these names. Maybe there's still some undetected mix-ups left, keep that in mind.

All in all, this is just a chapter made to firmly establish the chemistry between Rob and a new character who's very close to him. I also feel like I'm really pushing the boundaries of keeping this work apolitical/uncontroversial recently, I hope it's still fine as it turned out.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I love the way that this chapter came out! Kudos to you!
Wortge
Posts: 63
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

College Point Dog Club, Friday 3:05 PM

Two Golden Retrievers exited a car that stopped close to the club building, one of them wearing a backpack. Both dogs were still deep into a conversation that started inside the car.

"...There's nothing wrong with being the litter's lastborn, Bart!" Rob continued arguing. "You shouldn't care about that so much."

"Mom has no idea what she's talking about! There's no way Kessie came first!" Hobart carried on.

"Dad already admitted he barely remembers the day. Mom's order is clearly right."

"It's not! I just can't be the lastborn! The lastborn is supposed to be all happy-go-lucky and playful! That's clearly you!"

"Are you serious, Hobart? Personalities have nothing to do with your birth order. Might as well believe in horoscopes if you think that stuff's real." Rob chuckled while entering the club, stopping after getting well inside the first floor.

"This is it?" Hobart stopped by Rob's side, looking over the club amenities and present members.

"Yeah. Not much compared to all of the venues I dragged you to this week, but it's free at least. And I contributed a few things to it. Probably the only contributions I've made to society."

"Don't drag yourself down like that. You're helping me through these troubling times in my life, for example. People like you, Rob. Keep that in mind."

"Oh, don't mind that. This is just self-deprecation, not self-esteem issues... And please don't use the word 'times' together with '-ing' adjectives, that's almost triggering."

"What?"

Rob shook his head. "Nothing. Do you feel like trying out the arcades? Talking to the poor city-dwelling souls hanging out here? I don't think there's food left, it's too late."

"Uh. I've never tried arcade cabinets before."

"You'll like them. It's racing, tapping buttons to songs, shooting. Wanna try it out? Please don't use your real gun, you gotta use the ones attached to the machines."

Hobart chortled. "Come on, Rob. I know that. Stop treating me like I've been living under a rock. What did you come here for anyways? Wanna play some games too?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I'm here to see Brian. Today's the only day this week he's spending time here. He's been busy with being at his company's offices or playing with his son recently."

"His son, huh? He's committed? Like Mom and Dad?"

"Not really, he just really likes the dog. Wanna come with me? He's upstairs." Rob turned to face the stairs.

"Uuh... Sure. Let me meet your lifelong rich friend. That sounds interesting, never met a working pet before."

The two started walking. "Yes, you have. Dad was employed for some weeks earlier this year."

"What? In what?"

"Ticket-selling. Back when the qualifications for that job were simply 'be unable to transmit Corona'."

"Huh. Is that why he has so much saved up money now?"

"Of course not! You think working for a few months as a ticket agent gets you a million?! That's money coming from this little dude right here." Rob approached Brian with Hobart, introducing the third Golden Retriever by pointing his right arm.

"What's coming from me?" Brian looked at the two, bewildered, sitting at his desk as usual.

"Nothing." Rob leaned on the desk. "Brian! It's been almost weeks, hasn't it? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, Rob. It hasn't been that long, you were here on last week's Thursday."

"That's an eternity! Especially with all that happened to me! My trip upstate! Moving to my new house! Living with Hobart! I can't believe me seeing you for the last time was something that happened before all of that!"

"Hah! Yeah... The days where you'd see me every day to at least say 'hi' are long gone. But let's not dwell on that, liking your new home?"

"Of course! It's amazing! I love leaving the building and being immediately greeted by the most amazing part of the city! Thank you so much for that! Uh... I feel like my 'puppy instincts' are about to burst, do you mind if I unleash them on you?"

Brian chuckled. "Go ahead." He got up, walking a little away from the desk. "You gonna hug me or something?"

Rob almost tackled Brian, pushing him until he touched a nearby locker. He squeezed his friend, licking his face fondly. "I love it, Brian!" He stopped the licking to exclaim. "I love you, too! Thank you! Thank you! You're an incredible friend! You're an incredible dog! I'm so glad you're in my life!" He continued the hug, now just resting his head against Brian's chest.

Brian smiled nervously, just rubbing Rob's fur casually. "You're welcome, Rob. It's really nothing. I thought spending some millions on a whim like that would be a little irresponsible, but I've already made that money back. I just have no idea on where to spend all of that instead of just hoarding it selfishly."

Rob let go of Brian, both dogs now just standing next to the locker while Hobart shyly approached the two. "Ever thought of donating it to charity?"

"Charities are mostly really dodgy or just plain misguided, not worth the risk."

"Uh. What about decreasing the pricing? Or increasing the wages of your employees? Since you make well enough?"

"The board of directors and shareholders would never accept that, Rob. Being a CEO is far from being some kind of absolute dictator who controls everything, you know? The system is built in a way that overly enriches me individually if the company's doing well, can't really do anything about it other than try to redistribute that extra money by myself."

"Stop with that, you two." Hobart joined the conversation. "It's your money. Nobody's entitled to it. You're earning it, fair and square, and people who don't contribute to anything shouldn't be getting it for simply existing. You really shouldn't feel guilty just for accumulating too much money."

"A lot of people are entitled to your income, Bart." Rob began. "It's called 'taxation'. Too bad it's all spent on stealth bombers and guns instead of basic healthcare."

"Hah. Don't worry, I know how much the folk around here like their 'taxation'. How much did you spend on Rob's new place, Brian?"

"Uh." Brian worriedly stared at the unknown dog. "I spent five million dollars on it."

"What?!" Hobart yelled immediately. "Five million for that small box?!"

"Normally it'd go for something between three point five and four. But I overbid to force the old owner into moving faster. You see, I'm aware that Rob doesn't like long-term plans. I didn't want to negotiate things until December or something."

"That's still too much! Do you know how many giant, luxurious estates can be bought for that much around the country?!"

"I don't care, Hobart!" Rob interjected. "Most of that price comes from our home's location, not from the property itself! Everyone knows that if we moved our apartment to the middle of the Dakotas it'd only cost one thousand dollars, why is that concept so hard to understand?! If a house is in a place people actually want to live in, of course it's gonna cost more!"

"It costs extra because it's in that loud, crowded hellhole?! It should cost less than one thousand, if anything!"

"Who's this dog, Rob?" Brian interrupted the argument.

"Oh, did I really not introduce him? He's Hobart, my brother."

"Oh!" Brian remembered. "Your brother from Upstate, right! Why are you visiting? Rob told me you hate cities, what brings you to the biggest one in the country?"

"Well, my brother brought me." Hobart chuckled. "My parents, specifically. It's a real long story, they're forcing me to switch owners and I have to live with my family in the meantime. Since they're all here in the concrete jungle, I don't really have a choice there."

"Ever thought of signing up for self-ownership instead of looking for guardians? It's an option."

"Uh, not really. Don't I need money for that? Some form of job?"

"I can give you all the money you need for the monthly payments, it'll all go back to the organization anyways. I'll always support my friends' families with anything they need."

"No, thanks. Accepting that much money would be hypocritical after going on about people not deserving money for doing nothing."

"It doesn't affect me in the slightest, don't worry about it. I have no use for forty million dollars, especially if it's going to become fifty in less than a few months anyways." Brian paused to rub his forehead in thought. "I won't insist, sorry. I shouldn't be talking about my services here in the club anyways. That's technically using my personal community project to advertise my for-profit business, pretty unethical. Apologies."

"What? It's your own company, you can talk about it wherever you want. Freedom of speech! You people censor yourselves way too much, chill out for a bit. Words can't hurt."

"I just don't wanna use this club as a recruitment base for working self-owned dogs, that's all. You can end up doing that without even noticing, gotta be careful with power. I wouldn't really call that 'self-censorship'." Brian tried to give a friendly laugh.

"Alright. Uuh..." A brief awkward silence ensued between the three. "Brian, if you had to guess." Hobart suddenly started. "Do you think Rob's the firstborn, the lastborn or the second-born in our litter?"

"Bart!" Rob yapped. "You're seriously bringing Brian into this?!"

"You see." Hobart ignored, continuing. "We're a litter of three, you know? It's Kessie, me and Rob. Where do you think he fits?"

Brian pondered briefly, smiling and nodding. "Well, I barely have had any contact with Kessie, I've never met up with you before. But with how puppy-like and generally moody Rob is, I'd guess he's the lastborn. He has like, the stereotypical lastborn personality."

"Brian!" Rob complained. "Don't tell me you believe this pseudoscience too!"

He chuckled. "I don't, Rob. But since your brother's making me guess, I guess your personality plays into your expected birth order, right?"

"Not at all! You're wrong. I was the second-born. Hobart's the lastborn."

"See? That's what he believes." Hobart explained stoically to Brian. "He believes every single word Mom says. She says she vaguely remembers Rob being the second-born and me being last, but she clearly can't remember things right. Giving birth must be an incredibly confusing experience, even more confusing than being birthed. Rob thinks that gives her any authority in knowing our birth order."

"I mean. It gives her more authority than me, at least." Brian giggled. "What does Buster think?"

Hobart was briefly taken aback by Brian's knowledge of his father's name before answering. "Uh, Buster thinks I was first. Then Kessie and then Rob. More logical, right?"

"Haha, if you believe birth orders define personality, it plays that very straight. According to what Rob's told me, you at least try to act very mature and down-to-Earth. Then you have Rob, who kinda tries the same but is clearly pretending. Kessie seems like a mid-point, don't really have much contact with her."

"What do you mean 'pretending'?!" Rob objected again. "Why do you people even care so much about this?! This should only matter during our birthday! And only our first birthday! The literal 'birth' 'day'!"

"You're the one who's caring too much." Hobart argued calmly. "Just accept you're the lastborn. Haven't you already said over and over that it doesn't affect you in any way anyways?"

"I know it doesn't affect me! I care because you're wrong! Not because I'm ashamed of possibly being the lastborn! Dad already admitted he's just roughly guessing! You're the one who's ashamed of that!"

"Guys, please." Brian interrupted, laughing lightly. "You shouldn't care about that stuff so much, it's just seconds of difference. Have your parents birth another litter and all of this will seem very petty in retrospect."

"Were you raised by your parents, Brian?" Hobart got closer to him.

"Yeah. Who wasn't? I was sold at four months old, I believe."

"Ugh, 'sold'? Way to make yourself look like a slave."

"I mean, your owners can kinda enslave you if they desire. Nowadays it's harder, dogs have the freedom to run away and seek a shelter or ask to become owned by someone else. But that doesn't stop things, it only makes things slightly harder by requiring those owners to convince their dogs that their unremunerated work is ethical due to the historical subservience of dogs to humans."

Hobart looked at Brian incredulously. "What?! Why do you city folk talk like that?"

Brian facepalmed, sighing. "Am I really getting more and more incomprehensible recently? It's hard to tell when all the feedback I get for my speeches is either silence or nonspecific praise! How do I simplifly that sentence?"

"Do not fret, my beloved ex-hillbilly." Rob mockingly piped in. "I can understand some post-kindergarten words. What Brian said is that owners can make their dogs work for free by convincing them it's fine because they're just dogs, and therefore, just supposed to be commanded by humans. That sounds very familiar, doesn't it?"

"What are you even getting at, Rob?" Hobart glared. "All the help I did back home was light, routine, *enjoyable* tasks. It's in no way 'slave labor'. They gave me a home for free! Some casual maintenance and dishwashing is the least I could do to repay them!"

"What home? Your doghouse? You could probably chop down a tree and make that thing for free with your skills. They gave you nothing other than the constant risk of a brutal, agonizing death."

"Uh... Nice job managing to compliment me while arguing against me, that's pretty interesting."

"What do you mean by 'death', Rob?" Brian rejoined, concerned. "What exactly went on during your little Upstate trip?"

"His humans weren't vaccinating him." Rob started very quickly, anticipating an interruption by his brother. "And not due to valid concerns. Just conspiracy theory stuff. The 'vaccine industry' wanting to kill everyone or something, whatever they think goes on."

"You never listened to their points, Rob!" Hobart finally interrupted. "All three of you just went completely crazy over a single sentence!"

"I don't need to listen to someone who thinks the Earth is flat! Forget them!"

"That's only Martin! I've told you already!"

"Uh." Brian uttered loudly, trying to interrupt another argument. "I think I understand why you had to move away then." He looked at Hobart. "Are you enjoying it here?"

"Yeah. Kinda." Hobart responded.

Brian widened his eyes. "Really? Rob has told me things about you that made me assume you dislike any place that's too populated. Glad to know this experience isn't hurting you as much as I'd assume being forced to live Upstate would hurt Rob."

Hobart shrugged. "When you think of 'city living' you think of being able to only afford a small room with just a bed and a kitchen in it and hearing constant car horns. Living inside a giant tower like Rob can be calm and enjoyable, in a way. No wonder he can defend this hellhole."

Brian nodded. "Yeah. Not every New Yorker can afford that type of living. That's something Rob always forgets when he goes on about people being idiots for moving away to live a more comfortable life now that jobs are decentralizing."

"Brian! Really?!" Rob protested. "Even you're taking this stupid 'move to a giant house in the middle of a wasteland' bait now?! I was always fine with living in a modest house and a modest apartment in New York too!"

"They're still very good by New York standards, Rob. You were traveling to Thailand and Australia as a puppy, do you think that's normal? Do you seriously think you're averagely wealthy?"

"Seriously." Hobart chuckled. "Rob stinks of being a 'one-percenter', from the vapid consumerism to his hypocritical political beliefs. He needs some serious reverse-brainwashing."

"You know. Being part of the 'one-percent' seems super exclusive until you stop to apply some really basic math." Brian lectured. "That's still over three million people, that's a lot. The bottom part of that percent probably can't even afford more than two houses. Not really the type of person you think of when you think 'the one-percent'."

"What do you even need more than two houses fo-? Oh, nevermind." Hobart shook his head. "Anyways, it was a pleasure to meet you, Brian. It's a fine club you have here, good luck keeping the dogs entertained." He offered a handshake.

"Thank you." Brian shook paws cordially. "Is that a gun holster strapped to your waist?" He suddenly inquired.

"Oh, yeah." Hobart looked at the holster a little nervously. "I need something more subtle than that here, don't I? I'm just bringing it hom- to Rob's home. Just dropped by my parents' house earlier today to get it back. It's mine, wanna see it?"

"Sure." Brian smiled. Rob furrowed his brows at his friend in response.

Hobart grabbed his handgun and started examining it. "Wanna touch it? You know how to handle it, right? I mean, it doesn't really matter, it's unloaded. All the rounds are in my backpack."

"Keep it, Hobart." Brian waved dismissively. "That's a nice one. Does this one interest you?" He walked closer to his desk and opened one of the drawers, pulling out another handgun and showing it to Hobart.

"Brian!" Rob shouted. "What's the meaning of this?! Since when do you even have that?!"

"Since I got my car." He explained calmly, also examining his pistol. "Do you think I'm gonna walk around unarmed in this current climate? You can probably afford that risk. But me, being in the administration of a company that's starting to be hated by alienated unemployed humans, hated by human supremacists, hated by animal separatists. I can't just limit my self-defense options to the close-range."

Hobart clapped twice, nodding. "Well said! About time I meet someone here who isn't completely emasculated. Is this a freaking Infinity twenty-eleven?" He leaned closer to Brian's gun. "Whoa! I'd love to test that out! Can we go shoot somewhere?!" He wagged.

Brian chuckled. "Haha. I guess that runs in the family."

"What does?" Hobart tilted his head, still panting a little.

"Nothing. We could do that today, actually." Brian pondered briefly. "I could delegate things to Hope or maybe even Xander, if they're here. It's not a good look, going out on the only day this week I'm working here in the club, but what can I do, right?" He shrugged. "Life over work. Let me just finish a few things first." He sat down at his desk again, putting his pistol back in the drawer. "Stick around, Hobart."

Hobart stood by Brian's side, holstering his gun and leaning on Brian's desk casually. "I will. Do you have a shooting range here?"

"Heh. Of course not. We two will drive to New Rochelle, there's a really good spot there. I was there with my son a few days ago, also training him on gun handling, really fun times."

"What's happening to you, Brian?" Rob looked at the club founder disbelievingly. "You're shooting clandestinely with Luke? Stop risking yourself like that! Do I need to start going out with you a lot again?"

"Oh, Rob. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm replacing you with Luke. I'm just trying to make up for my absence, kinda subconsciously."

"I'm not jealous! I'm just concerned! Stop risking your life! Stop risking your career!"

"I'm risking neither. This is all necessary for me and for my son. If the city government not only can't keep us safe from crime, but also buckles to demands from criminals, then I have to kinda take it upon myself. It sucks, but that's life in these trying ti-"

"Enough with this 'times' bull***!" Rob suddenly lost control. "Uh. I mean... Good luck with your shooting then, you two. I'm going downstairs. Can you drive Hobart to his apartment after you're done? I'm gonna go home by myself, since I'm not gonna come with you two." He started walking towards the stairs.

"That's not my apartment! Stop that!" Hobart shouted in response.

"Sure, Rob!" Brian ignored. "It was nice to see you! Let's do something together soon!" He suggested while Rob left the room.

Rob looked around the first floor, seeing a familiar Dalmatian club member close to him. "Hope!" He approached her, getting her attention. "Brian's about to go out have fun with somebody, yet another Golden Retriever. Can you go upstairs and sit in for him as usual?"

"Oh, um, sure. It's been a while since I've been tasked with that, with Jon handling it most days now, I'm even missing it. Am I supposed to close the club too?"

"I dunno for how long he's gonna be out. Go upstairs and talk to him, he's finishing things up."

"Alright." Hope nodded. "Thanks, Rob." She walked upstairs.

"You're welcome." Rob looked at the arcade, seeing his longtime Beagle friend playing one of the rhythm games, one of the machines with keys on the machine panel instead of the floor pads. "Now that Xander's safe from being grabbed by Brian, let me have some fun with him for once." The Retriever thought to himself, approaching him and waiting for him to finish his stage, the dog frantically tapping on seven rectangular keys next to the screen to some type of electronic music.

"Is that good by your standards?" Rob attempted to small-talk after Xander was done, looking at the results screen.

"I honestly have no idea." The Beagle almost huffed, looking annoyed. "I haven't bothered with Lunatic Rave Two in weeks, so I don't even know if I'm rustier than I should be or not. I'm not playing at my best, of course, but this remaining skill is enough to have some fun, at least."

Rob smiled. "Good to know. Glad to see you coming back to the other rhythm games around, diversifying instead of focusing on the one you're the world's best player at."

"I'm not the 'world's best player', stop that." Xander giggled. "There are many different skillsets, and in some of them there are players who completely obliterate me at them... But this game right here, I'm absolute garbage at. To begin with: Being a dog, I already have the fact that the controller isn't built with my species in mind working against me, limiting my skill ceiling. There's this freaking large button here that you have to spin." He pointed at the mentioned button. "Humans do that with their pinkies, because it's far away from the other ones, but I don't exactly possess that finger. The pet meta is to either use your ring finger or just drag part of your arm on it, but it's clear that having a long appendage for that stupid gimmick would be way better. This thing just has way too many keys! That's why I'm cogitating just trying to get good at four keys again, 'four-key', as they say. Just using four keys on a keyboard, no extra gimmicks, ability to play the game at home, already feels familiar to pad play. With Jon not being home during most weekday afternoons, it wouldn't even annoy him. Too bad I'm kinda garbage, I was 'D7' at my best, but everyone's 'D8' nowadays! How would I even catch up?!"

"Uh." Rob interrupted quickly before the rant continued. "You mean, playing with a keyboard instead of the stomping pads?"

"Yeah. Not a replacement for pad play, of course. But just a rhythm game I can play at home without an arcade or a controller that isn't even made for paws. I was thinking of trying it again earlier this year, but with Jon becoming my brother, I assumed I'd never be alone in my bedroom again and he'd be annoyed by my loud mech keyboard. Now it seems possible, the keyboard community moved away from StepMania in the past few years, now they use 'Etterna' so it's technically not even the same game, just a different game made with keyboard play in mind. Maybe I'll get back to it and try to become somewhat competent. I remember struggling to 'triple A' Quadraphinix at 1.0 rate just before stopping, and that's laughable. Like, what kind of simpleton can't do that easy stuff?"

"Can I do whatever that is? Am I a 'simpleton'?"

"You don't have months of experience, Rob. No excuses for me."

"Right, uh. Good luck with your other rhythm games, then. Considering you've been stuck doing the dancing one, I can imagine how rusty you are at all the other ones."

"Don't even let me get into Sound Voltex, now *that's* a game I just can't handle. Recently I tried Beat Saber, finally, with my own headset. It's fun, but I can't see myself bothering to gain skill at that. Might as well play Just Dance if I'm reaching that level of gimmick-ness. I'll just stick with my key-based games, please and thank you."

"Yeah, uh..." Rob tried to continue the conversation. "I've been trying new games recently too. Tried out a game that judging by the general Internet opinion, you probably hate. Can you guess which game that is?"

"Uuh." Xander pondered. "The second 'The Last of Us'?"

"Nope. No Man's Sky."

"Oh. I don't hate it. It's just, alright."

"Hah! Really? Isn't it 'super disappointing' and stuff?"

"I have no idea what people were expecting." Xander shrugged. "It's just yet another procedurally generated space exploration game. That concept's been done to death already, way before that game got released. Elite, Noctis, Space Engine, even Spore. Now *that* one is a massive disappointment. People were promised a lot of things that just never made it to the final game, even though they were even shown at showcases before. Not comparable to some space game that people thought would have something more than just clicking on stars over and over and hoping there's something beautiful orbiting them."

"I mean, the game's more than that. There's space stations, there's space combat, they're adding more and more stuff, you know?"

"Yeah. I know they released the game before it was properly finished and stuff... Honestly, I hate how space games try to be logistic simulators but then are pretty much forced to implement some combat into it. Dog forbid you release a game without some shooting in it, right?! So stupid. It's like if those trucking simulators forced you to deal with random people trying to hijack your truck and you had to point a gun at them or something. They don't have that, they just have the driving, it's not even racing, you gotta follow all the traffic laws. Despite that, very few people who actually try them call them 'boring'. Maybe we've all moved past guns? Finally? Once everybody realizes that, we might start a new golden era for video games. We'll finally have major games attempting something new and not having to look like stupid indie voxel slash pixel art crap for that."

"Judging from what I've heard from Brian, we're very far from 'moving past guns' at the moment."

"What? What do you mean?"

"He's been out shooting with his son. And today he's gonna be out again to shoot with my brother, Hope's gonna sit in for him."

"Oh, your brother's here?"

"Yeah. I've been showing him around."

Xander chuckled and nodded. "That's cool. I thought you were just gonna stay in his house last weekend and then part ways. Didn't know he was gonna spend some days at your new house too."

Rob shook his head. "Not originally part of the plans, Hobart's being forced to find new owners."

"Seriously? Wow, that hits *way* too close to home, with me and Jon and all. Why?"

"We finally found out his owners are a bunch of ignorant antivaxxer flat-earther rednecks. Took us long enough, but better late than never."

"Are you serious or is that just your urban elitism exaggerating things?"

"Uhm. Look, he wasn't being vaccinated and neither of my parents were very accepting of that. Don't you think that type of endangerment warrants an ownership change?"

"Probably. Is he doing fine?"

"Of course. He's warming up to living here, and trying to hide that from me in the most hilarious ways. As I've said, he's gonna go out with Brian to practice his shooting today, or to just test Brian's probably very expensive pistol. Did you know that Brian walks around armed?"

"Yeah. Since June or so."

"Really? You always knew that?"

"Of course, he's shown me his gun before. Brian deals with dangerous stuff, you know? Making it easier for animals to replace humans at their jobs, making animals pretty much equals to humans while also completely assimilating them into human civilization, that makes a bunch of people mad. Haven't you heard of tamed animals being kidnapped by separatists? Those people were kidnapped and thrown into the woods just for daring to live inside civilization, imagine what they would do to a dog who outright encourages an exodus from the wild woods to the cities."

"Ugh. We don't really have that here, though. I really don't wanna believe that Brian's unsafe, but I suppose being overly cautious is necessary for him."

"It's necessary for you, too. Don't you go all over the world all the time? You don't walk around New York like you'd walk around in say, Guatemala, right? Or like how you'd walk around Switzerland."

"Well, I don't carry guns around in any of those places. But I understand your point. I respect his choices, whatever. Considering he's protective of his son, it's even noble, in a way."

"Heh. Imagine if someone decided to separate Luke from Brian, he'd go completely berserk. It'd be like one of those trashy revenge fantasy blockbusters where somebody kidnaps a retired secret agent's daughter or something."

"Agh! Could we please not go there? My family kinda separated my brother and his adoptive human father last weekend and I kinda fear him trying to somehow get Hobart back by force from us."

Xander laughed, shrugging. "Don't worry, Rob. Brian's protective of you too, if that human did something to your family Brian would go twice as hard on him. You'd be able to at least appreciate Brian's rampage from the afterlife, in a worst-case scenario."

"Argh! Shut up! Not you too!" Rob suddenly leaned his head on the arcade's side.

"What? Are you still getting all crazy and in denial everytime someone vaguely mentions mortality? You should really get that sorted out."

"No! I mean, maybe!" He stood up properly again and shook his head. "Sorry, it's just a little worse this month. I talked about the afterlife with a pig hours before he got unceremoniously executed and butchered back in Hobart's old place. I fear that if I talk to someone about that stuff again I'll picture them being shot in the head with a rifle and..." Rob covered his eyes with one paw. "I really don't wanna picture you dying, Xan." He sniffed.

"Rob! Don't you think you're overreacting just a little? There are hundreds of pigs dying this very second, you learn to just live with that. Did you eat that pig?"

"Yes, I did! I had to! His meat wasn't even good!"

"Hahaha! That's kinda sick, Rob. The universe just seems set on making you dislike the rural areas more and more, it seems."

"I know that Hobart's old owners aren't a typical rural family, but this whole debacle really doesn't help my biases."

"Let me play some more stuff here before I get cold again." Xander looked away from Rob to face the machine's screen again. "Good to have you here again, Rob. Hope you're having fun with your brother and your new apartment."

"I sure am! I'll surely miss these days, if he ever moves away again."

"Yeah..." Xander struggled to decide a stage to choose, as usual. "I hope whatever happens to him, it's the outcome he enjoys the most. Try to resist forcing him to keep living here, if he really doesn't want that. Have a good day, Rob." He started playing a level again.

"Why are you acting like I'm going away? We might even go out or something, I have nothing prepared for today aside from the club visit."

"Oh, uh. Just assumed you weren't gonna watch me play."

"Nah. It's fun. Just as impressive as your feet stuff."

"That sounds horrible out of context. Please don't repeat that sentence." He chuckled while rapidly tapping the game's keys.

"Stop talking and pay attention! No wonder you keep complaining about messing up."

"This is only an overjoy one, Rob. Come on. I don't really need to concentrate for this."

"Is that you accidentally humble bragging as usual? What type of music even is this?"

He chuckled again. "Who knows. Some type of glitchy electronica. You're forced to make that kinda weird stuff if you want your file to be hard."

"Didn't you just call it easy?"

"No. I just said I can talk while I play it."

"Oh. Does your music taste come from this game?"

"It certainly influences it, at least. I've been getting into Sweet Trip recently, some of their music sounds just like something that would be an overjoy three chart or something around that."

"Hm."

"Have you tried my recommendations?"

"Yeaaaaah... It's really not my thing. Sorry."

"Shame... Autechre's super accessible, Rob. If you can't enjoy that, then any attempts at something more experimental are hopeless."

"I'll survive without your music, Xan. Speaking of music, how did you fi-" The club's door suddenly was loudly kicked open by a dog from the outside, getting Rob's attention.

"Oh, come on now!" Xander yelled, still tapping. "I'm not even with Flash this time!"

Rob looked at the arriving dog, seeing a familiar brown-furred mixed breed. The Retriever abandoned Xander by trotting towards the newcomer. "Bino!" He greeted, smiling, arms wide. "Great timing! Finally found your way into the club again?"

Bino stopped, furrowing his brows at Rob. "What do you mean by that? I was here just thi-" He interrupted his sentence by shaking his head while blinking with force. "Uh, Yeah! It's a bit hard to get here without a car. Why did you all choose this place for it? Your managerial decisions look worse and worse the more I pay attention to them."

"It wasn't a choice based on accessibility, just convenience. It was close to all of our houses at the time. Why did *you* choose that location for your club? Some suburb one hour from Chicago? You're in no place to talk."

"The G.O.D.C. is in a prime location! It's in the middle of Babylon Gardens! Pet lover's paradise! You should've seen how many dogs lived in that place!"

"Fifteen thousand? Don't worry, I'm aware. College Point has eight thousand. But this club is meant to serve the entire Queens Community District Seven, which has over fifty thousand dogs. Also, nothing says 'pet lover's paradise' more than getting your pet eaten by an alligator." Rob deadpanned with an eye roll.

"Ah! Shut up! Why did I even tell you about that? Interesting things happen sometimes, so what? A place where nothing different ever happens and everybody's living their mundane lives all the time is pretty terrible. And Babylon Gardens ain't that."

"Isn't that the whole selling point of suburbia though? Hmm. I think you'll really like it here, Bine."

"What?! What did you just call me?!"

"Nothing. I like giving nicknames to recent acquaintances, the reactions are funny." He giggled, wagging.

"Ugh. You remind me of... Nevermind."

"Who? Peanut? Your old friend? I know, I got that comment from Grape too."

"Aah! Don't even mention that stupid cat's name! She hit me in the head with a frying pan once!"

Rob raised his brows, edging back in surprise. "Really? Why?"

"Uh. I dunno! She just did it! I was just criticizing my brother and she hit me from behind. That attack sent me to a hospital!"

Rob cringed, looking at Bino worriedly. "Oh. She did threaten me sometimes, but I've always assumed that was just teasing. I'll be more careful with her."

"How about being more careful with cats in general? That'd be nice, you really shouldn't trust that Jon guy."

"I'm not gonna judge people based on their species, Bino! That's terrible! It's just as bad as discrimination based on ethnic group or nationality! It's not taken as seriously as it should just because this is a human-centric world and humans barely have to face that."

"Then go ahead. Try your diplomacy with the little sly felines and then come crying to me with brain trauma once it goes as well as expected. I had your mentality back when I was a pup, I'm no stranger to it, I remember at one point being thrilled to get to share a house with a cat, but look how well that turned out for me in the end. Let me tell you about a group that you should also not trust: K-9s and also dogs who are just owned by cops."

"Uh-huh." Rob gave brief a puzzled stare. "The NYPD Police Academy is actually *in* College Point. I don't have a very high opinion of the police myself, but this is one of the worst places to antagonize them, especially given the, uh, current political scenario."

"Wow. How many dogs here are K-9s then? You guys need some serious cleaning up. Have I told you about one of my old 'friends', Fox?"

"No. For me that's either the name of a group of mammals, a news channel that really hates New York, or Fox McCloud."

"No idea who that is... I'll tell you about him, then: Puppyhood friend of mine, good pup, great friend. Suddenly starts being quite whiny, not wanting to play as often, reading boring books all the time. You could assume that's just someone growing up and maturing, I kinda did, but then he just started getting really violent. Just vicious! He assaulted me, almost mauled me! Over so many petty things! A harmless prank I pulled without his knowledge! Some comment I made about Corgis! A stupid, worthless watch I just wanted to play with! He was just a deranged, hot-tempered dog at that point! And then he just quit the club and cut contact, but not before joining the police as a K-9 officer."

"Hah! Given his violent behavior, I can see how he'd start working as the one thing that gives you a free pass to hurt people as well as a permanent power trip. Ditching a dog club to join an organization made partly to ensure the humans always stay at the top, utter bootlicker."

Bino tried to hide his surprise at Rob's hostility towards his old friend, starting again after a small pause. "Seriously! Guess what was the first thing he did with his new stupid job?! Arrest me for going outside without a leash! I spent a week in a pound for that!"

"Hahaha! Really?! What a complete ***bag! Why were you ever friends with that type of dog to begin with? I thought there'd be some kind of hints that your friend's actually a violent, power-tripping literal lapdog for human oppression before everything blows up like that."

"What can I say, Rob? I was an idiot. An idiot who trusted a cat to not be an annoying permanent thorn in my life, who trusted my friends to always enjoy my company and respect me, who trusted his owner to not throw everything away because his cat wants to live in the other side of the country. I was too tolerant for my own good, and seeing this club now, all I see is the brief moments of happiness I had back when I was also that tolerant. And I can't do anything other than helplessly try to warn you guys, always anticipating the day where everything reveals to not be as ideal as expected and the whole thing just crumbles."

"Oh, Bino." Rob nodded slowly, moved by the sudden speech. "I'll be careful, alright? I'm gonna go over things with Jon. I'm gonna go over things with the members working as K-9s. I'm *definitely* gonna go over things with Grape, nothing short of life-threatening danger warrants an assault like that, you better not be lying."

"Have I ever lied to you, Rob? Go ahead. Ask her if she 'hit Bino in the head with a frying pan once'."

"I will. I'm trying to trust you but that puts me at odds with a lot of people I already trust. I hate dilemmas so much." Rob looked around, anticipating the conversation ending suddenly. "Uh. How about we go out, Bino? You're from New York but also new in New York, aren't you? That's a lovely combination, especially considering all the lifelong New Yorkers recently doing stupid impulsive *** like ditching the city to live in small towns in Maine or whatever. You're the opposite. Do you remember a place you liked here?"

Bino almost denied the offer before actually taking a moment to consider it. "Uh, sure, Rob. I partially grew up in Queensbridge, but I don't really wanna go there. All I'll find there are bygone memories of a way happier part of my life."

"Ah, really? You're a fellow Long Island City-Astorian? We're truly the cream of the crop, aren't we?" Rob smirked. "And don't worry, now that the chapter of your life in the Hanging Gardens is finally over, it's all uphill from here!" The Retriever raised his arms, starting to walk towards the club entrance.

Bino followed him from slightly behind. "Heh. Let's hope." He smiled shyly.
Last edited by Wortge on Wed Aug 26, 2020 3:24 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

This is coming along very lovely! I really am liking this story very much!
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by 96N64player »

Yay! I was finally able to catch up with the story. It's nothing short of stunning how real and in depth you make the personalities of characters we thought we knew so well. Amazing work!
Philippians 3:13
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Burbank Residence, Babylon Gardens, River Ridge, Wednesday 11:20 AM

A Golden Retriever slowly walked up to the door of her sister's bedroom, opening it and entering after briefly knocking.

"Ready, Luna?" Lisa asked, leaning on the room's bed while looking at her sister staring at a large mirror on one of her bedroom's walls.

"Uuuuuh..." She dragged out while adjusting the fur on the top of her head. "It's fine, whatever, let's get going." She huffed, joining her sister.

"Let's go for it then, here goes nothing." Both sisters made their way to their new house's front door. "Bye, Mom!" Only Lisa exclaimed just before opening the door, waving at her owner sitting on the living room sofa while using a mobile phone.

"Goodbye, my jewels!" She waved back. "Hope you have lots of fun, you're gonna love this place! It's an utopia for pets!"

"Right, see you later!" Lisa rolled her eyes and closed the door, locking it while Luna waited outside.

"Ugh." Luna grumbled. "How far is the train station from here again?" The two started walking the suburban roads, Luna following slightly behind her sister.

"Three miles or so. It's right in the middle of Downtown."

"Agh! That's like, a little over one Central Park! What would the yokels here even consider being a 'Downtown'? Three office buildings next to a single cafe?"

"Hah! Probably something like that... But we're going to the station for a reason, to leave this place. Don't pay so much attention to this place's dullness."

"Awful! This is worse than the Hamptons, at least that place has beaches! Let's hope the locals here are slightly less rude, at least. When does the train leave?"

"Some minutes past noon. We'll make it, don't worry."

"Just can't believe we're living in a place where we have to worry about the train schedule. It's like we're going out somewhere at three A.M. or something."

"Judging from what I've heard, this place is just as dangerous as Manhattan at three A.M... Back in the seventies." Lisa tried to humorously comment.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Don't worry your head about it. Just some rumors that are stuck in my head."

"Oh, that's just great. Can't wait to get beaten up here after this little foreshadowing coming from you."

"It's nothing serious, just some unusual crimes that happened here years ago. Petnappings and, uh, slightly worse things... Let's just hurry while inside this more residential area, please." Lisa started pacing faster.

"You can't just tell me to not worry about something and then start hurrying like this! What's exactly going on, Lisa?!"

"It's nothing! I told you! Just make sure the tracker on your phone is active, please! As long as we stay far from the bigger parks, we shoul-"

"Hey! You two!" An unnoticed mostly cream-furred mutt ran up to them, blocking their path.

"Aaah!" Lisa jumped, shrieking. "Uuh, what?" She quickly tried to disguise, her sister stopping and backing up a little from the stranger.

"Sorry! Uh, welcome to Babylon Gardens, you two! It's a pleasure to have you here! This place was created as a safe haven for all pets and other animals alike! I hope you enjoy your life here!"

Lisa rolled her eyes, shooting a very annoyed stare at the dog in front of her. "Great, it's the Gardens' Witnesses. What are you blocking my way for, peasant?"

"Allow me to introduce myself." The dog cordially started. "My name is Devo. I'm formally inviting you to check out the neighborhood's dog club, the Good Ol' Dogs Club! Just turn right at the next street and look for a big lot with a large building to your right, you can't miss it!" Devo informed with enthusiasm. "Tell them you were referred by 'Devo' once you're registered, please." He added quickly.

"I'm not gonna join ***! Are you serious?! Get outta here! Get outta my way!" Lisa aggressively walked around Devo. "A 'dog club', seriously? Even here you have these glorified welfare centers?"

Devo tried to still follow the two dogs, who were now walking even faster. "Please reconsider! We have numerous activities available!"

"Do you know what else has 'numerous activities available'? Chicago! Now please, let us get there in peace!"

"Oh, you two are going to Chicago?"

"Yeah. We're taking the train that goes there, see if we can find anything."

"Babylon Gardens has everything a dog could ever want! Join our club!"

"No! I don't care about this stupid housing complex! Begone!"

"You two should at least wear leashes if you're leaving the Gardens, then."

Lisa widened her eyes, slowing down and scratching her head. "Oh. I got so caught up in worrying about petnappings and alligators that I forgot about that. How do 'leash laws' work? You see, I come from a place where dogs are treated with a semblance of respect and dignity."

"You must wear a leash when outside of the Gardens. You don't even need a human guiding you, you just need a leash around your neck. You can just leave it hanging, although some places require that you hold your own leash at least."

"What?! Why?! So my head doesn't come flying off?"

"Yeah!"

Lisa facepalmed while Luna just looked at the two incredulously. "Why is Mom doing this to us?" She struggled to not whine. "I thought leashes weren't mandatory in Chicago?"

"They're not. Chicago's been a 'pet-friendly city' for some years now. A decision that caused an exodus out of the gardens, but we managed to survive. It was all for the best anyways, now we only have the loyal residents left, who live here for reasons other than just pet freedom."

"Yeah, yeah. Since we're going there then, not having a leash shouldn't matter, right?"

"You're walking to Downtown River Ridge, aren't you? Leashes are required there. Even if you're just going through it to get to Chicago."

Lisa shook her head dismissively. "We'll just risk it then, whatever. Thanks. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"You could get detained for being an unaccompanied unleashed dog. You'd have to wait in a pound until your owners arrive. You don't have any kind of tag on, can you contact them?"

"Yes, I can contact my owner. See you later, then." She tried to politely make the dog leave.

"Uh, please don't forget the club, alright? Are you thinking of joining?"

"Yes, I am! We'll stop by there once we're back!" She lied, trying to get rid of the stranger. "Goodbye!"

"Sweet! See you later!" Devo cheered and started walking away.

"Ugh." Lisa huffed once alone with Luna again. "Worst part about living in a small town: No anonymity! Everybody knows you're the new neighbor around! What a headache! How about you mind your own business?"

"You can't mind your own business if you have nothing to do at all. It's either staying home or talking to your neighbors. Somebody new moving in for these people is just like a huge new attraction opening up for them."

"What an upgrade from our old home, right? How's Mom even tolerating this?"

"She's just stuck at home, enjoying the 'fresh air' or whatever. Doesn't make a huge difference for her because she'd be super restricted back in New York anyways. I never thought she'd be that selfish! Banishing us here just because she can't enjoy her events for a few months!"

"Seriously! But Chicago probably isn't that bad, too bad we're gonna take almost an hour to get there."

"If we even get there without being chased off by animal control or something."

Lisa suddenly brightened up in realization. "Sis! I have a great idea! How about we just walk around Downtown until some human arrests us for not having a leash on? Mom would be horrified! She'd ditch this sorry town in an instant! She's barely aware of how restrictive everything outside of the Gardens is for us, it'd wake her up from this sudden 'suburban living' phase from her for sure!"

"Uh, what?... Actually, that might be a good idea. We could even get petnapped!" Luna cheered. "If we survive, we're never setting foot in this town again!"

"Uh. I'm fine with just the 'getting arrested' plans. I don't think we need to take things that far."

"Howl of a way to make sure she stays out, though! There's no point in living this far from a city, especially with her money! You can just live in a suburb that's not at the literal end of the train line!"

"I'd give anything to move to Brooklyn or even Queens right now. Can't believe I'd ever be saying this."

"Things can go wrong so fast, can't they? To think I was snobbily mocking the Outer Boroughs just some weeks ago..." Luna looked around briefly, seeing only large houses and dense forestry. "Are we out of our neighborhood, at least?"

"Let me check." Lisa pulled out her smartphone, tapping. "We're out of Babylon Gardens. Now we gotta cross 'Memphis Park' and after that we're Downtown. The station is right in the middle of the city's center."

"Still a long way to go, I guess. Plenty of time for animal control to get us."

"You're really taking my idea that seriously?"

"Yeah. You're not? How do we go back to New York? Either we wait for Mom to realize how boring her new home is, risking a chance of her actually growing fond of the place and disregarding the fact we hate it. Or we get into some trouble the very first day we go out and make her believe this place's dangerous and just an overall bad idea."

"We could just abandon her. Go to the dead center of Chicago and then declare to the authorities we want to escape Carla due to abuse. We'll probably be sent to a shelter and be adopted by someone living closer to the city, at least."

"Absolutely not, Lisa! Are you kidding me?! I am *not* willing to spend time in a shelter! That's way beyond my limits!"

"We've reached our 'limits' since a long while already. We could emancipate using a pet ownership company with our little money, at least for a few months. Then try to live by ourselves and slowly try to work ourselves up to living in New York again, or even just Central Chicago."

"Oh. I'd love to try working as a filmmaker. Or maybe even an actress."

Lisa chuckled. "Uh, you might want to start a little more humble. Probably a telemarketer or a greeter."

"You know how to hurt me, don't you? I should've just taken Dad's offer, he'd problably not allow Mom to send us away like this if we were friends."

"'Dad's offer'? What do you mean?"

"When he showed up back in our old home, days before everything started going wrong, he wanted to hang out with us or something, just because he helped us in being born. As if your biological parents matter if you don't live with them or even know them. Part of this stupid trend of pets trying to copy humans more and more. I couldn't care less about befriending someone who's like, four times my age. But if I did, he'd probably prevent this, especially with his money."

"'His money'?"

"Yeah. He has a job that gives him a lot of money, somehow. He even offered me some trips to Europe, but that was just a bait to humiliate me. I think I annoyed him a little too much by thinking he was yet another opportunist in my life."

"Oh. I think I kinda did that too."

"Yeah... Mom raised us to always be cautious of people wanting to take advantage of our wealth, I think I kinda overdid that with my father though. He could've been a distant friend. Not even for his money, just his friendship... It's just that when you hear of somebody who suddenly only cares about you after you're six years old, coincidentally right during a major economic crisis. It's very suspicious."

"Indeed... I had no idea he was rich, just thought he was some dog who was in the dumps and believed birthing us would get him special favors."

"Maybe if he becomes aware of our current situation he'll help us. If only we had contact... Oh well." The two dogs continued in silence, crossing the residential neighborhood. Eventually they reached a noticeably more central area, the houses getting significantly smaller and denser, as well as many commercial businesses now being present. The two dogs turned their attention to the city's skyline consisting of two taller office towers and mostly commercial buildings.

"There's no way this is still 'Memphis Park'. This is Downtown, right?" Luna asked. "Let's hope that dog didn't make us late."

"He hurried us, if anything. We might have to wait for quite some time, maybe use that time to check up on how paying for the train works."

"Or use that time to get arrested for not wearing a demeaning extra collar."

"You know what? Let's do that, then. Let's tour this sorry little 'Downtown' for a while before going to the station. Try to look as clueless and innocent as possible."

"Oh, officer! I just didn't know I had to wear that kinda stuff in this dump!" Luna mocked with an exaggerated Valley Girl accent. "What are you gonna do to me now? The pound? Oh dear, I cannot believe it! Mom will be *so* mad!"

"Luna! Stay discrete, please."

"Nobody can hear us, calm down."

"Who can't hear you?" Some male voice came from their side.

"Aaah!" Lisa shrieked again. "Why does this keep happening?!" She looked at the source of the voice, a gray-furred Husky wearing a K-9 police vest. All three of them stopped to talk.

"Could you tell me where you're heading?" The officer started formally.

"We're walking to the train station, we're going to Chicago. Are we walking over the speed limit or something?"

The Husky gave a brief quiet snort. "Your speed's fine, don't worry. Just stay off the roads. But I need to inform you that leashes for large pets are required within River Ridge city limits, even if you're 'self-owned'."

"Oh no!" Lisa feigned being scared. "Where's the dog pound? Or the jail? I don't know how this law-breaking stuff works for pets, how long will I have to stay detained?"

The officer looked at her, stunned. "Uuh. This is just a warning, you're free to go. Just remember to wear leashes when going outside, that's a law made to make pets easier to restrain in case they start acting wildly, out of instinct, which happens sometimes. You don't even need anyone holding it, got it? Have a good day!" The Husky turned to resume his patrol.

The two sisters followed him hastily. "What?! No!" Lisa protested, Luna following her in silence. "Uh, I'm a repeat offender, alright?! You can't just let me go like this!"

The K-9 stopped, looking at the two, confused. "You or your family can't afford a leash? Where are you from?"

"I'm from New York City."

"Oh, you're a tourist? Is your owner not around? Or are you some ECP dog?"

"What?! We're not tourists, no traveler would ever stop by this sorry little hamlet, don't flatter yourself. Uhm, our owner's staying in 'Babylon Gardens' for the moment, we keep crossing the whole city with no leash on because we can't be bothered! We're going to Chicago anyways, where they don't have this ridiculous ordinance! How can this place be so backwards?! From the infrastructure, to the people themselves! What a ***hole!" She tried to provoke.

The Husky stepped back, still confused. "Ooh, I'd give anything to get back to investigative work already." He muttered under his breath, pinching his forehead. "You're in B.G. then? Last time I checked, there are no hotels there, unless the ferrets are doing another one of their seasonal gimmicks already, are you hiding something?"

"Yes!" Lisa cheered, accidentally answering the officer. "Oh! Uh, I'm hiding my contempt for this law that I'm currently not following!"

"You're not hiding that at all, though." He closed his eyes briefly and looked back at them, assuming an official posture. "Look, wear a leash when outside the Gardens, alright? Maybe even in there, just to be safe in case you have to leave. That neighborhood's an oasis of full pet rights in the middle of a human-dominated world, your owner chose the best place to stay in the entire region, maybe even country. But be warned, if I see you two walking Downtown wearing no leashes another day, especially if you continue this weird behavior, I'm gonna fine you two." He warned holding up a finger.

"Oh, just arrest us!" Lisa yelled, annoyed. "Put us in a chokehold or something! We want to be traumatized! Make our owner see us suffer! Do you know how to get kidnapped here?"

The officer immediately lost his professional posture again. "What?! What do you mean?!"

"Pets here are petnapped all the time! That's the only thing this city is known for! Do you know about anyone who got petnapped? How did the cases unfold?"

"Ah- How- What- What?! How do you-?! That stuff wasn't even-! Argh! This is some kind of test of my patience coming from Ralph, isn't it?! Unbelievable! I can't believe he'd waste my time like this!" The patrolling dog rapidly stomped away, growling involuntarily.

The two sisters stared at the retreating Husky, confused. "Well, that could've gone worse." Lisa tried to humorously comment.

"We *wanted* it to go worse!" Her sister complained. "Guess we'll need to commit a worse crime to get to convince Mom."

The two started walking towards the train station again. "The kidnapping plan's still on the table. If we go for a crime more serious than just not wearing something we didn't have to wear back home, Mom will just blame us for being arrested, not the neighborhood. We need to be a victim." Lisa schemed.

"Where did you even get this idea that Babylon's super dangerous and full of petnappings? None of the locals seem to be aware of it. Mom certainly thinks that place's the dream residence of any pet, and any pet who doesn't like it will inevitably grow into loving it."

"Uuh... The dog who was with the man who bought our apartment. He told me Babylon Gardens is famous for petnappings, that's all."

"Really, Lisa?! And you just trust him like that?! Was he from here, at least?"

"No, he was from Manhattan. But he also told me about the leash laws! And I looked up the petnapping statistics of River Ridge, they're way over the national average!"

"Pet ownership here is over the national average! Don't pay attention to that stuff, it's misleading data."

"It isn't! I made sure it was per capita!" The argument sharply stopped as the two neared their destination.

The two dogs entered the small train station building. "Hah! Penn Station this is not." Luna snarked, looking over the insides. "Do they have ticket machines here? MetroCards, Oyster Cards, whatever they call it here?"

"Ugh, let's hope. I think we just went from too early to too late after that detour."

Babylon Gardens Streets, Wednesday 6:09 PM

Lisa and Luna walked the forested suburb's sidewalks, heading back home while talking.

"That was so great, though!" Lisa wagged. "If only we didn't live one hour and tons of walking away, I wouldn't even be mad about moving to Chicago."

"Seriously! I forgot how great Grant Park is! And that waterfront! Gorgeous!"

"Maybe we should just try to convince Mom to move to the Loop, instead of back to New York."

"Don't give up so soon, Lisa! Don't be like Mom, who starts hating the most exciting place of the country because she couldn't go outside for two months."

"Or two decades if they let the doctors run the country, right? Easy for them to want everyone to be jobless and locked up when they're the ones who are at absolutely no risk of losing their job at the moment."

"Argh! Don't bring that subject up!... But seriously, Field Museum! That was so great! I hope if I come back there next month it won't be frozen in time like the ones back home."

"There were human visitors inside, at least. Maybe Chicago isn't at such a standstill."

"Do you think we can repeat this tomorrow?" Luna asked eagerly. "It's about time we move past this phase of just staying home, sulking this terrible move we just went through."

"I wasn't sulking! I was just afraid of this neighborhood."

"And you're not anymore?"

"Not really. You hear so much apocalyptic talk coming from people, and then you go outside and everything's normal. I should stop taking speculations and rumors so seri-"

"Hello!" The dog from the morning suddenly appeared next to the sisters again.

"Aaaah! Why?!" Lisa jumped.

"You two are finally back!" Devo exclaimed, ignoring the scare. "Can I guide you to the club?"

"No! Leave us alone!"

"You told me you'd check it out! You don't want me to tell the club dogs that the two new Golden Retrievers in the Gardens are liars, right?"

"What?! You have the audacity to threaten us?! Do you know who my mom is, mutt?!"

"No, I don't. And judging by your attitude, you're gonna love hanging out with one of the club's co-leaders, let's go." He forcefully grabbed one of Lisa's paws.

She followed him instead of resisting. "Let's get this over with." She gave an annoyed sigh. "You're doing this because you get a bonus for it, aren't you?"

"If you want me to be blunt about it, yeah. But I believe you'll enjoy it! Who wouldn't?"

"Well, I haven't been interacting with my neighbors a whole lot, but I've already heard pretty bad things about this little 'Old Dogs Club'. Something about it ruining the neighborhood's inter-species relations or something."

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it." He waved dismissively. "Only Bino cared about that stuff a lot, and he's gone now. Kicked out back to the cramped cesspit he crawled out of. Thanks to a cat, funnily enough. Two cats, actually."

"Where was he kicked out to? What could possibly be a downgrade from this?"

"New York City."

"What?! How dare you! You seriously think this is a better place to live in than New York?! There's nothing to do in walking distance! There's no buildings, nothing interesting! Just trees!"

"There's the club, I just told you. Why are you so defensive? Are you from New York?"

"Yes! And hopefully I'll be back there in no time! No point in getting acquainted with your little club of Midwestern yokels!"

"You'll like it here, don't leave. Aren't you enjoying your big house? I've heard that you'd need millions in New York to get what would be an average house here."

"You think I don't have millions?! I know that! Literally the only thing people complain about New York is that it's too expensive! So if you're not poor, it's perfect!"

"Then why did you move here?"

"Because my mom is crazy! Do you seriously think I wanna live in this hole?!"

"Oh, don't diss your owners. They give you everything you need for a good life, completely for free. You have no rights to just decide where they're gonna live with you on top of that. Or are you in the ECP with your dog mother?"

"Again with that name? I have no idea what that means."

"Equal Chance Program. It's a system that owns a lot of pets as if it were a human, serving as some kind of loophole for animals needing an owner to not be considered strays or wild. They also pay for a lot of stuff they need."

"Oh, you mean, a self-ownership corporation? I've heard of them. I'm not self-owned, but considering it at the moment."

"I don't think they'd accept you just because you're not OK with where your owners moved."

"'Accept'? Don't you just pay them?"

"No, the ECP isn't for profit. It's funded by the Miltons, to convince the humans that animals are just as good when it comes to contributing to society, and therefore deserve equal rights."

"Oh, so noble." She mockingly deadpanned. "I think everyone by now knows that we can't just replace all humans with animals without a serious economic crash."

"It's not about replacing humans, just allowing animals. My human-sister is a bobcat, you know? She might not be human, but she's dead set on living a life identical to a human's."

"What? You mean, your pet-sister is a bobcat? That's unusual, but there's a lot of weirder families I've seen."

"Hah! Not weirder than mine, I bet! She used to be human! She turned into a bobcat while visiting the zoo! Haven't you seen the news? That happened last year!"

"The squirrel thing? Sometimes I even forget that happened here. That was just a publicity stunt! Humans don't just switch their species like that, they just get kidnapped, killed, and then replaced by some animal who probably paid a lot. The kind of stuff you can get away with when you have the money. So much for 'not replacing humans'."

Devo recoiled, very concerned. "What?! No! There's no way! Lois can't be dead! Marion saw everything! She was turned into a bobcat with a puff of smoke!"

"That's a smoke grenade, you idiot. You throw that next to the human, drag them out, and then make the replacement animal come in. How do you not figure out that obvious ruse?"

"He acts just like Lois, though! No! It can't be!" He teared up.

"Oh, don't cry in front of your little club, come on. Think of the credits you're gonna get for dragging us two in. Cheer up. Where's the club anyways?"

Devo shook his head. "It's right here." He pointed directly to his right. "That building at the end of the lot."

"Yuck, you guys couldn't even pave the walk to the entrance?" She reluctantly stepped off the sidewalk and into the grass. "Let's go them. Sorry for distressing you."

"Don't worry about me, I'm ditching you forever as soon as I get my referral credits."

"Oh, the friendly façade's already crumbling, huh?"

"You think I'm just gonna tolerate you dissing the Gardens, my family, and the club constantly?" He pushed her into the club, then jumping in front of her to get in full view of the present members. "Devo here! Introducing this dog here to the Good Ol' Dogs Club! Have a good night!" He trotted out.

"Noted!" A dog exclaimed loudly from somewhere inside, just before Devo got outside.

"Oh." Lisa looked around, dazed. She stopped once she turned to her behind, seeing nobody following her. "Luna! Did you seriously sneak home while I was being dragged here?!" She asked her absent sister.

"New member." A voice from inside the club began, Lisa turning around to see a very muscular dog. "Please proceed to the registration offices, they're upstairs." He pointed to the stairs.

She nodded shyly, starting to walk towards them. "***ing place feels like a cult. At least if they try to sacrifice me that's a good reason for Mom to go back." She muttered to herself.

The Retriever entered the room on the second floor, looking at what seemed to be a modest bedroom, a Saluki lounging on the bed. The dog already in the room sighed and stood up, facing Lisa, who approached reluctantly.

"Are you joining?" She asked, not even trying to hide a very bored monotone.

"Against my best wishes, just to shut up some people who started bothering me as soon as I stepped outside. Do whatever you need for that."

"Hm, sassy type, huh? I also want to get this over with as fast as possible, don't worry." She assured with a noticeably smug Southern British accent. "Give me your name and age, please." She grabbed a pencil and a clipboard with some paper sheets on it.

"Lisa Burbank, six years old. One of the two dogs owned by Carla Burbank." She informed proudly.

"Uh-huh." She started scribbling.

"You know Carla Burbank, don't you?"

"No idea."

"Really? Famous designer, architect, art collector, food critic, film reviewer? It doesn't ring a bell?"

"You seriously think I'd care, even if I did know her? How about you try mattering by your own efforts, and not by the supposed fame of your owner?"

"Well, I'm very well-known in some sophisticated circles of Midtown Manhattan, you know?"

"Oh, no wonder nobody here knows you, then. Have you noticed you're not in New York right now?"

"Of course! I plan on ditching this sorry village as soon as possible!"

"Then why are you signing up?"

"To make your little minions stop bothering me! Did you come up with the stupid 'referral credits' idea? Because every dog in the neighborhood who's not a member is being advertised about this club nonstop because of that!"

"No, they're not. Only the new ones are. Bino came up with this idea, it seems somewhat useful, so I'm keeping it for the moment."

"Alright. Is that all? Am I a member now? Could you tell everyone that the new Retriever in the burg doesn't have to be targeted anymore?"

"They'll know, don't worry. I'm glad to have a *** joining us for once, this place's always been kind of a sausage fest."

Lisa flinched a little at the vulgar wording. "Uh, I know that's what that word meant originally, but nobody uses it in place of 'female dog' anymore. You might want to avoid potentially insulting dogs with it."

"Hah! You think I care? I'm personally reclaiming that word! Especially given how many people call me that from behind my back."

"Is that really something to be proud of?"

"You think I care about what the rabble here thinks of me? I just wanna see how I can milk them for money now that Bino's gone and I'm in charge. Since you're not a serious member, I'm glad I can just say that to your face. But if you tell them about this you'll be in deep trouble, just saying."

"Like, physical trouble?" Lisa tried to not smile.

"Yeah. Blunt force trauma trouble."

"Nice!" She accidentally let out. "Uh, sorry. I mean, what do you need money from the 'rabble' for? Are you really that poor? Don't you have enough?" She began trying to provoke.

"Of course I'm not poor! Do I look poor?!"

"I mean, you have this pound-sign-shaped tag hanging from your collar. Have you noticed that we have no use for that here? This is America! We use dollars! You can't even buy a paperclip with all of your pounds here. I bet they don't even have currency exchange around here, no wonder you have to depend on the 'rabble' to buy anything. Sad."

"This tag displays my rich heritage! And the pound sterling is the most valued currency in the entire world! I'll have you know!"

"Hah! You're one of those 'heritage' types, aren't you? If Britain's so good, why are you here in the colonies then? Especially in this sorry little Chicago exurb? I can even tell you're really exaggerating that posh accent."

"You think I like living here? My owners forced me to! And I'm a legitimate Londoner! Born and raised!"

"That doesn't tell me anything. That could mean anything ranging from Kensington to Croydon."

"I'm from Hounslow!"

"Bah-hah! Really?! No wonder your owners saw this place as an improvement. Imagine trying to pass off as some rich English dog to the American peasants frequenting some dog club in what's essentially a forest trying to look like a residential area. Look at this place!" Lisa stretched her arms to indicate the room. "This looks like a Bronx apartment! You're actually aspiring to run this dump?!"

"Oh, you think you're such a big shot, don't you? Nobody here knows you! Unlike me! If New York is so good, why are you here then?! Are you one of the people running away because they closed everything for the humans? Which made them realize there's no point in paying a fortune for a tiny room if you can't even enjoy the city anymore? New York's utterly dirty and ugly, by the way! It doesn't even come close to London, unless you're a rat!"

"You just keep revealing that you're super poor over and over! I can afford gorgeous houses in New York! I've lived in one for all of my life, in fact! Are you seriously implying that some three-thousand-dollar-rent studio in Manhattan is a 'fortune' to you?! Pathetic! I'm only here because Mom is suddenly in a midlife 'I need a simple life' crisis! But as soon as she's out of it, this will all be just a really long nightmare! Of course nobody here knows me! You think I'd give a *** about ***ing Illinois?! You can all go drown in all your corn, farms and Lincolns for all I care!"

"Alright, that's enough!" The club leader held an arm. "Boris! Yeltsin! Code four! Come here do your worst!" She yelled angrily.

"Oh, are you gonna call Gorbachev too?" Lisa continued taunting. "You're just Britain's refuse! That'll always be the truth! No matter what you decide to do with me!"

Two muscular dogs quickly entered the room, the Saluki turning her attention to them. "Finally! Shut this bloody Yank up, please! Give her a warm welcome!" She ordered while heading downstairs, the two dogs getting between Lisa and her and blocking the way out.

"Uh, maybe I'll regret this?" Lisa whined. The two dogs closed in on her, preparing to throw punches.
Last edited by Wortge on Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Really liking how this chapter came out! I hope Lisa can be saved!
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96N64player
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by 96N64player »

Well, she was literally asking for it. Great job Wortge!
Philippians 3:13
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by NHWestoN »

Nnnnnnnnnn ... if Boris and Yeltsin get that joke, they're probably gonna be even more grim!
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

I think some pets will come in at the last moment before they can even touch her to save her and trick Boris and Yeltsin so they can all escape them.
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Stevenson Residence, Thursday 2:17 PM

Xander sat at his computer desk, playing a computer game, the monitor currently displaying a human running around the streets of a city. Rob sat on a chair placed right next to Xander's, a chair he had taken from another computer desk placed right next to Xander's. He watched the Beagle's gameplay, commenting occasionally.

"What are you planning on doing now?" Rob asked, mostly to break a silence.

"I dunno... GTA gives you so much freedom, but with no set objective, that ends up making the game really, uh, pointlessly boring. It's kinda paradoxical."

"Yeah. You can drive everywhere, walk everywhere, fly everywhere, but there are no tasks for you once the story's over."

"No objective other than watching the days pass by, trying to find something to entertain yourself with to pass the time... It's kinda like life as a pet, isn't it?" Xander asked melancholically.

"Let's not have a philosophical discussion over freaking GTA, Xan. Come on now. Find something to do or boot up a less existential game."

"Do you wanna play?"

"No, I'm here to just watch you and talk... Isn't that what watching a 'Twitch streamer' is? You're able to enjoy that stuff, aren't you?"

"Oh, I'd never watch GTA streamers, especially if they focus on Online. I like watching variety streamers, the ones who don't just stick to a single game."

"Uh-huh. Ever thought of streaming games yourself?"

"Of course not. Do you seriously think I'm funny? I wouldn't be entertaining to watch, but at least I'd play better than most streamers. Like, of course the ones who only stick to one game are amazing at it, but the variety ones? Oh my dog! Absolute garbage! At any game! They play like they're two years old! A human two year old!"

"And if you considered yourself funny enough, you'd do a better job than them?"

"Yeah. They think being bad at a game adds to the hilarity, but it's just kinda annoying to me. The entertainment comes from other things, but I gotta tolerate the horrible gameplay to get to it."

"Do you ever call them out on it?" Rob laughed lightly.

"No. I'm not gonna be toxic in chat, come on. When they're like, missing something really obvious, I might want them to read a chat message calling them an unfunny mentally-challenged buffoon, probably with a bit more colorful language than that, but it's not really worth it. I got permabanned from the chat in a stream I really liked back in '14 or so, for somewhat going too far with jokes at the expense of the streamer. I don't think I really deserved it, was probably just one of the five hundred mods in chat having a bad day, but it was a minor wake-up call. Gotta be careful with chat messages. Now my messages are mostly just a single emote with no context." The Beagle chuckled.

"Uh-huh. Uuh..." Rob hesitated. "Speaking of permabans. Yester-"

"Really not a promising way to start a sentence, Rob." Xander interrupted.

"I know! But I gotta bring this up. I permabanned somebody from the club forums yesterday, first time I ever did that."

Xander raised his eyebrows, still staring at his game. "Uh, I like joking about banning people sometimes, but our rules are super lax. What did you ban them for, was it just a spambot?"

Rob shook his head. "Actual club member. It was Tom, do you remember him?"

"'Tom'? Uuh... Is that the brown mutt with a black spot on his left eye?"

"No, that's another Tom. The Tom I banned is the one who left for rural Virginia last year."

"Ooh... I have no idea, Rob. You know, eight hundred plus members and all. I think even Brian's forgetting people at this point."

Rob chuckled. "Hah, yeah. He kinda is."

"Don't stop. Go on, what did you ban Tom for?"

"He made some ***ing 'Why I left New York'-style post in this month's chat thread. Bragging about having grass to run around in and how much he loves his owners for going through with his move. Then he invited members to also move to where he moved, saying that the club isn't worth it if you have to live in New York for it. I'm not tolerating that *** in a forum I'm an admin of. I've always fantasized about having the power to shut up some stupid city-hating tirade online, and yesterday that finally came true. Good riddance."

Xander snorted. "Of course that's the reason for it." He rolled his eyes. "I mean, if he's not even in the club anymore, then whatever... I don't know why we even have that 'ex-member' class in the forums anyways, just demote them to regular forum accounts if they leave, take that fancy bold blue name away from them. If you wanna leave the city for whatever reason, then let go of our club too, especially if you're gonna use it to try to convince other members to also leave. Go ahead and leave New York, leave the club, leave the forums. Enjoy your data-capped, overpriced, monopolized ten Mbps Internet. Go climb trees, mown the lawn, dig holes, whatever the *** you do if you live in Virginia. Leave us alone and stay out. We don't care about you, you shouldn't care about us either."

"Xander!" Rob cheered, raising his arms. "Well said! I thought you didn't really care about New York? That even sounded like one of my 'elitist speeches'! What's with the change of heart?"

"It's not a 'change of heart', Rob, please. If New York isn't for you I think you should go ahead and move out, for your own good, I don't wanna change people's minds like you do. Some people just like tranquility and couldn't care less about museums and restaurants and plays or whatever. People are different, that doesn't offend me like it offends you. But just like I don't like your speeches about people daring to say living in a small town is good, I also don't like people wanting cities to transform into ghost towns just because they're going all 'sour grapes' over having to live in the middle of nowhere to save money."

"I'm fine with where people decide to live, Xan. I swear I do." Rob leaned an elbow on Xander's desk and held his forehead with a paw, exasperated. "It's just, you know, this year. You have *so* many people getting out of the city, saying that it's all over. And now, seeing someone doing that in the club's forums, somewhere so close to me personally, it's *very* aggravating."

Xander shot Rob a weird look as he returned to a normal posture. "Chill, Rob." He comfortingly tapped the Retriever. "Of course the people who fled the city want it to burn to the ground, that'd justify their decisions. If you mean the 'exodus' happening this year, that's all just uppity rich humans who got too irked over the fact they can't have as much fun as before for some time. Once things are back to normal, and all the doomsayers are proven wrong, they'll have to watch in horror as the city bounces back to normal and they're now stuck in some hole where they have to drive one hour to get anywhere. They left because they couldn't enjoy the city, and if they plan on leaving for good, replacing their work with 'working from home' and replacing going to theaters and events with like, 'livestreams'? Really? Then they're in for a rough wake-up call. I can say this as someone who kinda accidentally was in 'lockdown' for most of last year, even part of this year. Living like that's completely soul-crushing. Nobody's supposed to just shut themselves in and do nothing outside. And once all restrictions for humans are gone, nobody will be going 'Oh, I'm gonna keep ordering everything online! I'm gonna get all of my movies from Netflix! I'm gonna only communicate via videoconferences now! I'm gonna only have online classes! The world beyond my little suburban house doesn't exist as far as I can tell!'. Nobody will. And honestly, if there's somebody who actually manages to live like that, then I'm glad they left. Stay out, I don't wanna live next to asocial hermits like you."

"Are you going out more now? I honestly kinda considered you some kind of 'asocial hermit' at some point."

"I was, wasn't I? When I noticed I was waking up at one in the afternoon every day, just rolling in my bed over and over for two hours because I had no idea on what to do for the day, I realized there was something wrong. I've been hanging out with the cats recently, it's really improving my mood. The outdoor stuff, trying out places I've never paid attention to. The 'Game Nights'. You should've seen the last one at Magellan's place! It was such a blast! He lives in a really tiny apartment, it was such chaos! But so fun! His humans are a lovely bunch too."

Rob smiled, looking at Xander's enthusiasm. "It's funny seeing you wagging like that, Xander. It's rare, but that just makes it more special. Glad to know you're having some fun with your cats."

"You wish you could hide your doggy cheerfulness as much as I do, don't you?" Xander smirked.

"I just find it too silly and immature. Makes me think people are assuming I'm a four year old." Rob answered, embarrassed. "Are you going out more because of Jon? Did he convince you?"

"No, what convinced me was the fact I wasn't looking forward to going through my days anymore... You give your dog everything he needs, make his room this 'nerd dungeon', the dream room for any dog. And then what? You get bored of things, no matter how expensive and great they are. There are just so many video games you can enjoy until you realize it's all the same thing over and over. Here's something about driving! Here's something about shooting! Here's an RPG set in a medieval setting! Here's an RPG set in a dystopian setting! You just get stuck there, you realize that you can't just have everything you want at home and enjoy eternal happiness because of that. You gotta look at the world, find something outside, enjoy your friends. This is the same point I was making before. If you think an ideal life is one where you have no objective, no responsibility, nobody living near you, just a room full of things to enjoy and the possibility of getting anything from outside conveniently instead of walking there, you're really wrong, and probably never tried living a life like that. I have, and I can tell you it slowly gets maddening."

"Jeez, Xander. You seemed so fine last year. Is that the time you were living like that? You weren't in the club a lot, but you seemed very fine and cheerful, even stoked about your progress in uh, StepMania. You honestly seemed better than nowadays, even."

"Well, I wasn't. You don't want to bother your friends with something that's going on only inside your mind. I know that's not a good mindset, but it turned out fine in the end. Just needed some time out with friends, goofing off around, doing things like even what I'm doing right now, having you here, although that was your idea to begin with."

"When did you start 'fixing yourself'?"

"Uuh... I think around the time Brian was in his little trip with his family. I did a lot of stuff with the cats, there was Jon's Game Night, Grape joined the group, my life was finally not at a standstill anymore! It felt good."

"Alright. Don't repeat that, OK?"

"I won't, Rob, don't worry." Xander drove around the game's map aimlessly during the talk, silently playing for almost a minute before starting again. "But see, since this whole discussion started with you talking about some member moving away. All of this tells you why I'd never take that dog's advice of moving to rural Virginia. You don't have people there, you don't have a lot of like-minded friends to talk with. I'd lose you, I'd lose Brian, I'd probably even lose Jon, judging by his attachment to this city. I'd lose everything I have here that's not in my house. That dog lost everybody he knew and can't replace them, so he makes a post trying to desperately get some of his old friends back, trying to justify his owners' decision to move to a secluded place. And then he gets permabanned for that, do you think he deserved it?"

Rob widened his eyes. "Oh. Oh no. Do you think I should unban him?"

"Of course not. No sympathy for dogs encouraging desertion." Xander replied scornfully.

"Wha-?! Really?! Then what's with the sympathizing speech you just gave?"

"You know what's the worst thing that dog did, Rob? He upset you. I know how badly you're handling this whole 'New York's dying' nonsense that for some reason is viralizing now. Rich people see their rich friends ditching the city and start desperately writing op-eds about how Texas and Florida are the nation's future despite the fact that one's gonna turn into a desert and the other's gonna turn into an ocean. The last thing you need right now is to have to read that stuff even in the club's forums, *** that guy."

"Jeez, you can really diss things when you want to, that's harsh. I like Texas, even Florida. I don't want that stuff to happen, no matter what they wish on us."

"You think I can only diss video games? What I recommend for you is to get off the Internet, stop watching the news. Go outside and just look at the city working as usual."

"You think I don't do that? I've been going out with Hobart a lot, you know?"

"Well, then go out more. Shut up about people deciding to leave and just celebrate the fact that you won't leave, I won't leave, Brian won't leave, everyone you see around you hasn't left, and there are thousands of people arriving. Can't believe I had to have this talk with you yet another time, ugh." The Beagle wiped his forehead.

"Oh, sorry." Rob frowned. "Yeah, I... I've been bringing this up way too often, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, at least this time you didn't start it, it was the forum member I forgot the name of already." Xander started getting noticeably bored trying to find something to do in the game. "I have no idea how Rockstar's able to milk this game for almost ten years." He suddenly started ranting. "This game got boring for me one week after I finished the story, which was a nonsensical absurdist mess compared to Four anyways."

"Why do you only have two characters to select from?" Rob asked curiously, paying attention to the gameplay again. "Is this save from before you unlock the third one?"

"No, this is post-game. I chose the ending that kills Trevor, even though you're kinda not supposed to, I guess."

"Hah! Why?"

"Because he's a sadistic, ugly, unfunny, unsympathetic psychopath and I deeply enjoyed every second of his agonizing death. That's all."

Rob chuckled, also raising his brows at Xander. "Oh. Alright then."

The Beagle finally closed the game. "Let me show you something pretty cool now, the last Flight Simulator game, it was released two days ago. After fourteen years since the last one, we finally have something, and it's gorgeous." He commented while browsing his game list and starting the other game.

"Oh, I've heard of it. It has the entire world, doesn't it?" Rob wagged in anticipation.

"Yeah. I can see how that's pushing all your buttons already. The last flight sims also had the entire world, but this one has actual aerial imagery data instead of dealing with LandClass approximations. They ran the entire world through an AI that interprets flat ground imagery as actual buildings and vegetation, giving you a 3D approximation."

Rob tilted his head. "Uh, OK?"

"You'll like it, alright? You miss flying, don't you?"

"Of course! Can you fly well?"

"Yeah, I can give you a realistic panoramic flight, I guess." The two dogs stared at a loading screen.

Xander looked at a globe after the game loaded, spinning it to show all the continents to Rob before starting to talk again. "Here you go, Rob. Your favorite thing: Geography. Pick any place in the world to start with, wanna see your home?"

"Flying around New York? Howl no. This place's been in hundreds of video games already, I wanna innovate."

"Hah! Really? So much for all the provincialist talk today."

"Don't you yourself complain about games not innovating all the time? You must be sick of games set around New York too, right?"

"Yeah. But it could be worse, it could be San Francisco. I can't even count in how many games I've driven through the Golden Gate already. But speaking of New York, just the past decade, do you know how many major triple-A games were first-person shooters that featured you going around Manhattan in a war-torn near future? That exact same concept? Three! Call of Duty, Crysis and The Division! All of them playing the exact same scenario, you're walking around a destroyed Midtown, taking cover and shooting things. Who buys that overdone crap?"

"Well, talk about Brian about that, Xander. He's gonna explain to you why when you're a major company, only very safe, tried-and-tested projects get approved and funded."

"Ugh, I know, I've actually talked to him about that already." Xander waited for Rob to decide. "So, decided on a place yet, Rob?" He looked at his friend to see if he was still looking at the screen.

"Oh, uuh... Go to Brazil."

"That's a garbage meme, Rob. Really?"

"What? I actually mean it! Go to Sao Paulo."

"Alright." He navigated the game's map. "It's this big blob here, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Take off from uh, 'Congon-has'. It has an incredible approach, I've never seen it in person because only very regional flights use it."

Xander clicked on some of the options, setting up the game. "It's 'Congonhas', by the way. The 'nh' in Portuguese is just like the Spanish eñe. Or the French 'gn' digraph."

"Alright. Go to 'Congonhas' then, nerd." Rob ribbed while giving Xander a mocking glance.

"Here we are, then. Let's start our sightseeing." The Beagle said after making the virtual plane take off.

"Uh, turn right, Xan. Turn right and see if you can find a small river going north. In real life it's a river bordered by two large highways, it's called the 'Pin-hei'- I mean, the 'Pinheiros'." He attempted to pronounce.

"The pines, alright." Xander complied. "Is this it?"

"Oh, yeah. I've been there."

"You don't even have to tell me that... Is it accurate?"

"Aw, it's missing the big bridge... Like, it feels like Sao Paulo, especially the giant cluster of high-rises in the distance, but there's a lot of buildings I vaguely remember that are missing."

"Yeah. But, you know, nobody has spent even a second designing this city, or even just going over it. It was just an AI looking at a 2D image and guessing it must look like this."

"Yeah. Anyone would do a better job than this, to be honest, there's a freaking building in the middle of the river. Of course it would take longer, it would be impossible to do it for the entire world, but those kinds of kinks wouldn't happen. So much for 'anything a worker can do, an AI can do it better'."

"AI is in its infancy, Rob. But it's gonna overhaul the job market massively eventually. I wonder if Brian's aware of that, self-owned pets typically work blue-collar jobs. He should know that just like humans brusquely switched to using pets instead of humans, they could switch to machines at some point too."

"Xander! I really didn't mean to start this discussion! Enough!"

"This isn't even existentialism, relax. We'll survive whatever comes, especially with Brian. Do you think senior-level executives like him are at risk of losing their jobs to AI? Hah! No wages, bigger profits, all amazing until you realize nobody but you works anymore and robots can't buy your products."

"Uh, you're continuing the discussion."

"I'll stop. Just felt like ranting, sorry."

"We all love just broadcasting our opinions, don't we? Uh... Keep going straight after that spot there where the river splits." Rob returned his attention.

"Am I selling you on this game, Rob? Would it satisfy your travel thirst in the meantime?"

"I might try it out. I don't know how to fly a plane, that sounds like a little too much to learn just in order to look at a game's scenery."

Xander shrugged. "It's easy. The basics, at least."

"Everything's easy for you, Xan. Especially when it comes to computers."

"Don't flatter me, please. That's not true, I'm a terrible programmer, for example. But flying is just pitching the plane up and then activating the autopilot."

"What about landing?"

"I.L.S. makes it really easy."

"Oh, Xander. Professional linguist, aviator, god-like gamer. This is what being confined to your computer does to you, huh?"

"I already fixed that, I just told you... And I'm a *dog*-like gamer, I'll have you know." He played.

"Yeah, you're just 'dog-like', not an actual dog. You lean more to the feline side." Rob laughed.

"Oh, don't start that teasing again, I don't miss it at all."

"I won't, sorry." Rob furrowed his brows in thought after some silence. "Xander, you know? Speaking of felines..."

"Another bad way to start a sentence, Rob. Are you gonna confess something? I always knew all that 'cat lover' teasing was a result of your own insecurities."

"What?! Xander! No! I mean, speaking of felines, uuh... Does Grape come off as, uh... 'Violent', to you?"

The Beagle was taken aback by the question, thinking of an answer for some time. "Not at all, she's a nice cat. Just a bit brash, but that's just a result of her, uh, upbringings. She's a shelter cat, you know? I think she was born from strays, in fact."

"Right. Uuh... She... Threatened me playfully sometimes. She told me once she would drown me if I continued joking about her, because she sleeps and complains a lot. Of course I didn't take it seriously, but... I've heard things about she hitting someone before, with a frying pan, to the head. And... That's..." Rob facepalmed, unsure of how to continue. "I dunno. Just... Be careful, Xander. Be careful with your friends."

"Rob! Seriously? Are you saying that because they're cats, just like Grape? Don't be like that!"

"No! This isn't speciesism, at least I really hope not. I know your cat friends are fine, but, Grape is a new one. You might do something that you'd assume only mildly irritates her and then she just gives you tetraplegia on a whim for that. Treat her with caution."

Xander sighed, torn by the sudden topic. "I like Grape, Rob. If you think there's a problem with her, tell that to her face, don't try to hide it. I guarantee you she'll respect you immensely for that. I've never heard of this frying pan rumor, ask her about it and use your own judgment."

"I will... Maybe even today, since I'm already here in my old village, my old 'point'. Do you think she's in the club right now?"

"At this time? Unlikely. Unless she's hanging out with her brother."

"Oh." Rob frowned. "I'll leave the club visit for another day, then."

"Brian's there today, you know?"

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Jon took the day off, he's hanging out with Spline in the City or something. Brian's there doing his stuff. Probably not even managing the club, just working for his company 'from home', I guess it's 'working from his other work' for him today."

"Heh. I'll drop by." Rob waited for the plane to reach a particular spot. "Turn right again, Xan." He instructed. "Going straight south from this longitude, you're gonna go over the city's historic center."

"Right... If some people think New York's ugly, I wonder what they would think of this city. It's just gray buildings as far as the eye can see, at least our city tries to spice it up a little with the architecture."

"I love it myself. It doesn't look as impressive from the ground level."

"Uh-huh."

Rob's thoughts returned to the club. "Xander. Here's a weird question: What's your opinion on the K-9 members in the dog club?"

Xander looked at Rob incredulously. "What? What's with these questions today, Rob? Is everything alright? You're being bothered by members who move out, by Grape, and now by K-9s? Just relax, as I've said already over and over: Things are fine, don't worry about it. You live a very lucky, privileged life. Don't waste it with needless worrying and anxiety like I almost did."

"I'm not really *'bothered'* by anything. I just gotta go over a few things sometimes. You know, believe it or not, I'm still a co-founder. Do you think the K-9s in the club might be too violent? A bad influence? Maybe a little power-tripping? Trigger-happy?"

"No! What?! Have you been using Twitter recently, Rob? They're fine, I don't really have much contact with them, but let's separate members from their jobs, please. If someone does something bad while in the club, let's not associate that with their work, or breed, or wealth. Acting like that will result in a really unhealthy club environment. Everybody in the club is equally treated, no matter their occupation."

"Right. I just heard about, uuh... Some dog giving someone physical beatdowns for every single slight they commited. He ended up joining the force and really overstepping his authority. At the expense of non-humans, even."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Rob. You should stop 'hearing about things'. Is that a club member?"

"No. Someone who was friends with a club member."

"I don't know what's going on through your mind. But please don't start interrogating dogs in the club based on their career, alright? We *really* don't need that."

Rob sighed. "I won't. Sorry. A new friend of mine is making me rethink a few things, the club might be vulnerable to a rapid decline."

"It isn't. And even if it declines, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Why are you suddenly caring about the club so much? You're like Brian four years ago. Relax and please don't assure that possible decline by acting rashly."

"I won't. I'll relax." He sighed, focusing back on Xander's gameplay again.

College Point Dog Club, Thursday 3:59 PM

Rob entered the club building, seeing the usual number of dogs inside. He prepared to go upstairs before noticing a familiar cat in their midst, deciding to approach her after debating with himself briefly.

"Uh, hey Grape." Rob greeted shyly, the cat turning her attention from some nearby dogs taking turns at an arcade, her pet-brother among them.

"Hey." Grape replied neutrally. "Good afternoon, Rob."

"Good afternoon." Rob looked up, nervously, before deciding to speak again. Grape had already returned her attention to the arcades. "Uh, Grape. I need to ask you about something that happened in your past, please don't take it the wrong way." He began.

Grape looked at Rob again, curious. "Go ahead. Make sure you won't regret it."

Rob resisted glaring in response to the threat. "Uh, Bino told me that som-"

"Don't listen to Bino." She interrupted. "That's common sense, Rob, come on. I don't know how he didn't drive you away after you talked to him for more than ten seconds, but if anything, that tells me something's wrong with your character rather than him possibly redeeming himself after being an arrogant jerk for decades."

"How about you let me finish?" Rob aggressively raised his voice, glaring. "I don't care about your opinion of Bino. I don't know what he's done to you, but maybe there's a very good reason for his dislike of you. Is it true that you hit him in the head with a frying pan once?"

Grape tried to recall. "Ages ago. Yeah, I did. I shut him up while he was going on with a jealous tirade against his brother, who's a much better dog, by the way. I wish he had come back with Max, rather than Bino."

Rob looked at the cat with disgust. "Ah-! You did?!"

She chuckled, surprised by the exaggerated reaction. "Yeah. Why are you staring at me like that?"

"It's- It's unwarranted! Was he threatening you?! Was he threatening his brother?!"

"No. He was just going crazy with ego, like he always goes. I approached him from behind and gave him a bonk, to reset him back to normal."

"You-! That's assault, Grape! He was no threat no anybody! You can't just hit people who annoy you! That's barbaric!"

"You're taking it *way* too seriously. He even appreciated me doing that to him."

"Oh, is that why he hates you then? You're sick! You could've killed him! He was knocked unconscious, that's brain trauma! No wonder he 'appreciated' it, he couldn't think!"

"Is he trying to turn one of the club leaders against me? Typical. Just keep Bino away, Rob, for your own good. He's manipulating you."

"'Manipulating me'?! You're the one who admitted to assaulting him! That's all I need! You could've even lied to me and I would've trusted you! But not anymore! You're an unapologetic assailant!"

"Bino couldn't care less about me sending him to a hospital. He's just using this event from ages ago to try to drive away one of the few cats in the club."

"I don't give a ***ing *** about what Bino's motivations are!" Rob suddenly shouted loudly. "What matters here is unwarranted escalation into violence! You're an attempted murderer! You're an animal abuser! You don't just hit people in the head like that! There's no safe way to knock someone out! This isn't a ***ing cartoon! You tried to kill someone because they annoyed you! It doesn't matter that happened so many years ago if you show no remorse for it!"

"Rob! You're being irrational! Seriously calm down!"

"Or what?! Are you gonna 'bonk' me?! Are you gonna try to kill me?! 'Reset' me?! Either back to normal or back to non-existence?! Tell me one thing, Grape, since you hate Bino so much, has Bino ever harmed you?"

"He's harmed Peanut. He used to bully him."

"Physically?"

"Of course not. Bino wouldn't be alive if he had done that."

"Oh, Grape, you're not making things easy. Violence should always be the last option! Not the very first thing you do when bothered!"

"I'm not like that! Bino's just someone who abused my patience for years and years! Do you think the frying pan thing happened on the first day I met him?! Do you wanna see what happens when my patience runs out?! You're keeping it up!" She hissed.

Rob jumped back, growling a little. "I see your unsheathed claws there! You're seriously frightening me! Get outta the club! You're a danger! You're too volatile! You're banned!" Rob yelled louder. "Effective today! Pack up your things and leave!"

"What?!"

"We have no tolerance for dog abusers here! Leave!"

"Argh! I can't believe this!" Grape stomped out towards the doors, exasperated. "A mere week for Bino to ruin things as usual! A mere week!" She hissed.

"And you stay away from Bino!" Rob yelled from a distance. "I'm not gonna report you! But that's only because it'd devastate Peanut, and I respect him! Work on your anger management! Then you can come back!"

"As if I would! You're just Bino's little pawn now! Go back to your little golden cage in the City, Rob! I knew I was a fool giving another 'dog club' a chance!" Grape shouted just before leaving.

Rob looked around the club, very nervous from the quarrel, seeing some members looking at him. Peanut approached him rapidly, very concerned. "What happened, Rob?!" He asked when next to the Retriever.

"Ugh, Peanut." Rob sighed, facepalming. "Your roommate, she devolves into physical threats and violence way too easily. I had to voice my concerns."

"You- You banned her from the club?" He whined.

Rob's heart broke at Peanut's expression. "Uuh. Grape has behavioral issues, Peanut. She'll be welcome back here once she's not a threat to Bino anymore, or to me." He tried to negotiate.

"Grape would never hurt anyone, Rob! What happened with you two?!"

"Grape tried to kill Bino some time ago! And she'd do it again! We can't have pets who react to anything with violence here!"

"Grape's not like that!" Peanut yelled, tearing up. "I'm gonna tell Xander! I'm gonna tell Brian! They won't accept this!" He started running towards the door. "Grape!" Peanut called just before crossing the exit.

Rob facepalmed, confused and feeling some regret. "Argh! Why am I doing this? I feel like I'm taking Bino's side way too hastily." He thought to himself while walking upstairs. "He's so fun to be with, though, who would try to kill him? I can't just excuse that." Rob reached the second floor and dragged a chair to sit in front of Brian's desk. "Hey, Brian. How's it going?" He tried to look more cheerful, smiling at the present founder, him doing something at the computer.

"Hey, Rob." Brian greeted. "Were you expecting Jon? He didn't give me much notice, so I'm just doing my other work from here."

"Are you working only on the P.I.S. now or are you multitasking both of your jobs?"

"The former. Club work's pretty simple, especially with all the current resources. I don't even know how I managed to invest so much time into it before."

"I mean. Jon manages to, I think."

Brian shook his head. "Not really, he just plays his Switch here. Most of his work is just having a presence here, just like what I'm doing right now."

"I just came back from Xander's house. I've been thinking of visiting you at your house too, you up for it?"

"Oh, sure. That place can get super lonely at times, with the kids not really caring about me and my paren- Owners, being rather, um, formal. I'm usually there with Luke, hope you don't mind."

"Do you just keep grabbing him from his Jersey house and dragging him to your house?"

"If there's nothing me or him want to do around the city, then yeah." He shrugged.

"Do you get there via the Whitestone Bridge? He's in Englewood, isn't he? Do you drive via Whitestone Bridge - Cross Bronx - George Washington Bridge? That's a lot of tolls."

"Anything that parts me from some of my money, even if it's just going to Jersey's road maintenance." Brian chuckled. "And he's in Teaneck, just west of Englewood."

"Oh. Uh, be careful with your driving. Remember that roads and cars were all made with humans in mind."

"I'm careful, don't worry." Brian briefly returned his attention to his work before looking at Rob again. "Uh, I have something to go over with you, actually. I'm glad to have you in person here right now."

"Oh, go ahead then."

"Jon told me you banned a user from the forums yesterday because they said they moved away from New York, could you clarify?"

Rob furrowed his brows, almost glaring. "What? That cat's trying to pull a fast one on me by phrasing things that vaguely, he wasn't banned just for saying he moved away."

Brian shook his head. "Oh, sorry. That's not what Jon actually said, I'm just really summarizing it. Still, you permabanned someone with no warning for something not in the rules."

"Well, then it should be." Rob raised his voice slightly. "He was encouraging members to move away, to ask their owners to move away. We can't have that, especially in these uh, current conditions. You depend on New York, you know? Far more than me and Xander. Having both your owner's and your own organization based here. You shouldn't give people contributing to the city's death a platform."

"New York isn't 'dying', Rob. Are you taking hyperboles seriously again? The city has its falls and rises, like any other. Look at everything that happened here in this city, even just within your lifetime, at no point your quality of life noticeably declined permanently."

"But they keep saying that this time it's different! The city's 'tax base' is gone! They keep saying that all the restaurants are gonna close because the office workers won't come back to eat there on workdays! They're gonna 'work from home' from their stupid farmhouses in Connecticut forever!"

Brian laughed. "Oh, shut up, Rob. Office work isn't being replaced. I mean, look at me, 'teleworking' right now. I can tell you the thing really sucks, as convenient as it sounds, it just drains you, isolates you. I tried doing it for almost a year, I remember loving the idea, Peter going all: 'Oh, Brian! Modern technology allows you to do all management from out-of-office! In fact, it's preferable! Avoid having the humans know they're working for a dog, despite what their own employer deals with.' I went for it, and after some months I wanted to hit my head against a wall every time I got a video call or heard my ringtone. No more of that, and that'll be the case for many humans, alright? Chill. Your precious restaurants will come back."

"I- I know. I just talked to Xander about similar subjects, in fact."

"Then stop taking this 'exodus' stuff seriously. Go outside and see how nobody's even aware of that alarmist nonsense."

"Exact same advice Xander gave me, funnily enough. Aren't you walking around armed recently, though? That means you at least recognize the city's been getting more violent."

"I'll do anything to protect my son, Rob." Brian looked at him very sternly. "And if you're reasonably influential, you're potentially in danger even in any hypothetical extremely safe European country you could come up with."

"Alright." Rob leaned on the desk, conceding.

"So, about the ban?"

"The dude had three posts, he probably hasn't even noticed it. People in the thread all piled up on him too, makes me proud, even."

"What matters here is the image, the P.R. We don't want members to be scared of participating in the forums due to selective, impulsive moderators. As annoyed as you can get by people saying a village is better than New York, you shouldn't react to that immediately with a punishment."

"Funny you should mention that, I just banned Grape from the club grounds for a similar reason."

Brian flinched in surprise. "What? That purple cat? We've never banned somebody from club grounds before, what did she do?"

"She has a history of impulsive, potentially lethal violence. She hit Bino with a frying pan in the head once."

Brian's eyes widened. "That new dog from her old city? Did she hit him in the club?"

"No, back where they lived."

"Uh, how long ago?"

"Hm, I asked Bino. Eight years ago, he thinks."

"Really, Rob?! Don't punish people for things that happened eight years ago, completely separate from the club! Have you been using Twitter recently? People change with time, Grape isn't violent at all!"

"She doesn't regret it! She was never punished for it! She'd do it again, maybe even with Bino again! Maybe even with me! She's threatened me! And I don't think she was joking!"

Brian facepalmed. "I'll go for a more diplomatic approach, with both of your victims. Please calm down. I don't know what's happening to you today, but having the first two bans in history in a single day, both coming from you, it's worrying. Go back home and hang out with your brother somewhere, please."

"The Virginia guy was banned yesterday, not today." Rob corrected.

"Irrelevant, Rob." Brian huffed, annoyed. "I think you need to relax a little. Let's go out tomorrow, alright? I can arrange something, is that fine with you?"

Rob wagged a bit. "Sure! Let's go for it!"

"Then it's set, let's find somethi-" Brian's phone suddenly rang, him grabbing it and reading the caller's name. "Huh, it's Carla." He told Rob. "That's not worrying at all." He deadpanned.

"I don't know who that is." Rob replied dismissively.

"Your apartment's old owner, and my daughters' caretaker." Brian informed quickly before answering. "Brian Kuczynski, Pet Independence Service." He greeted formally and quickly.

"Hello, uh..." Carla's voice came through, only Brian hearing it. "There was... an incident here yesterday. My daughters told me to call you."

"An 'incident'?" Brian asked curiously.

"Uh, Lisa was beaten up yesterday, by some gang, some drunkards, I dunno!" She lost her composure, fighting back tears. "They wanna see you as soon as possible!"

Brian leaned on his desk, covering his mouth and widening his eyes in concern. "Uh, is she fine?"

"She's fine! She's conscious! She's still in a hospital bed, with a bunch of casts on, but she's never been through this before! She's miserable! Please come here, she's begging for you!"

"I'll- I'll come! Please calm down! Tell them Dad's coming, alright! Oh dog, what have I done?!"

"Seriously! What have you done?!" Carla's sadness turned into anger. "Why did you recommend me to live in this place?! It's a death trap! This was their first day having the courage to spend a day outside and this happens!"

"I didn't recommend anything! It was a joke suggestion! I told you! There are much better places in Chicagoland than where you decided on living! Research it properly next time instead of blaming me!"

"I don't care about my daughters' discipline anymore! They could be the smuggest, most unpleasant dogs ever for all I know after this! What I don't wanna have, is having their lives endangered by living in a place like this! Our little stupid plans of 'humbling' them are over! I'm getting them the best place I can afford in the City after all of this! Especially with how cheap it's been getting recently. Don't you dare try to exile your own daughters again!"

"This was all your idea! I didn't force you to move, all I did was help and encourage something you had decided on already! You're no better than me! I'm coming to see my daughters and apologize, as soon as possible! What hospital is she in?"

Carla calmed down a little. "Mount Carmel Hospital, Western River Ridge."

"I'm coming tomorrow, calm them down, please. Keep them safe, Carla."

"I will. Sorry for lashing out, everyone here has made mistakes, I shouldn't be pointing fingers. See you tomorrow, bye."

"Bye." Brian ended the call and put the phone back in his belongings, holding up his face with two paws and leaning on the desk right after, sighing.

Rob looked on, worried. "That wasn't good news, was it? With the mention of hospitals and the face you're making right now." He tried to lighten up.

Brian sighed again. "I'm flying to Chicago tomorrow, Rob, River Ridge. Something happened to Lisa, my daughters wanna see me. Forget everything about their attitudes, their life was in danger because of my impulsive, vindictive decisions."

"The daughters you kicked out of my apartment to give it to me? Yeah, as much as I appreciate you for that, the way you did it does raise a few eyebrows."

Brian let go of his face, headdesking. "I'm a horrible father, Rob! Why did I do that?! I spent extra millions just to ensure my daughters moved away! I could've bought any other apartment for you for less than that!" He sobbed. "What they needed was reeducation, not punishment! They loved living here, of course taking that from them wouldn't fix it!" He broke into tears.

Rob got up, walking to Brian's side of his desk, leaning close. "Brian, please calm down." He embraced his friend gently. "You'll fix things, alright? They're fine, aren't they?"

Brian sat up properly, still being hugged by Rob. "It doesn't matter, I could've easily helped in getting them killed. Luck doesn't make my actions any less reprehensible." He tried to control his crying.

"What exactly happened?"

"Lisa's in a hospital. 'Beaten up', that's all Carla told me, she broke some bones. Nothing happened to Luna, as far as I know."

"Oh... I thought the stuff about River Ridge was just hyperbole, kinda like the negative hyperboles New York itself also gets." Rob let go of Brian and just stood close to him.

"I don't know if Lisa's really unlucky or if the place's really that dangerous, but I'm not gonna take any chances." Brian started using the computer again. "I've never booked flights only one day in advance, or even by myself, do you have experience?"

"Never tried it, I'm always with Shane, but just have your documents and luggage ready. I don't know what the travel restrictions are right now, but you're a dog, so you can just proudly ignore that. The Chicago region is a confusing mess of places that require leashes and places that don't, just wear them everywhere when there. People would worry about paying too much for flights not booked months in advance, but I don't think you're concerned about that."

"I'm really not concerned about the money, especially if my family's involved, I'll try to say that as humbly as possible... Luggage, money, leashes, documents, got it." Rob looked at Brian browsing a list of available flights.

"Uh, see if you can find a flight to Midway Airport, it's way closer than O'Hare, to both Chicago and River Ridge." He started advising. "And avoid LaGuardia, it's right next to College Point but it seriously sucks."

"Agh! It's all LaGuardia and O'Hare! Why?!"

Rob chuckled. "Ah, welcome to my life, at least a few years ago, almost nostalgic. LaGuardia is bad because you have lines of five planes waiting for takeoff there usually, maybe this year it's a little better."

Brian clicked on one of the options. "Six AM to eight AM, Newark to O'Hare, is this one a good option?"

"I like how you don't even compare the prices." Rob laughed again. "I'd rather just bite the bullet on LaGuardia instead of going for Newark at this point."

He clicked again. "Seven to nine, LaGuardia - O'Hare, return flight in the night. Fine?"

"Fine. You'll get there, that's what matters." Rob shrugged.

"Do you wanna come with me?"

Rob widened his eyes. "To hang out with you in a hospital for a whole day? I'm really tempted to travel by air after more than a year, but I think I'll pass."

"Right, what am I thinking?" Brian shook his head. "And I'd be endangering you too, not to mention how my daughters might recognize you as their apartment's buyer."

Rob thought more while Brian tried buying tickets. "Hey, River Ridge is supposedly dangerous, but I've been to Chicago plenty of times." He began. "Maybe I can hang out by myself there, and you go do your hospital stuff."

"So you wanna come? Two tickets?"

Rob wagged. "Yes! Of course! Can I have a window seat on the left side? If the plane approaches O'Hare from the east, it gives you an amazing view of the Loop."

"Then pack your bags, Rob." Brian rolled his eyes. "Please don't make me regret this. If anything happens to you, I will die."

"Yeah, yeah. Get on line." Rob chuckled.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

Enjoyed reading this chapter as it was really great! I can't wait for the next chapter to be posted!
NHWestoN
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by NHWestoN »

Made Labor Day all the more enjoyable ... a good read.
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Sorry about the longer wait. The chapters are mostly done, but I've been recently really procrastinating doing the beta-reading that I do just before posting to check the grammar and overall flow of the dialogue.

Harlow Residence, Thursday 10:14 PM

Rob used his computer by himself, idly grabbing handfuls of pelleted dog food from a bowl he had placed on his desk as an evening snack. He paid attention to a new set of footsteps coming from the condo's stairs, getting louder until they were coming from just outside his room. He glanced at his bedroom's open door, seeing his brother getting in.

"Hey, Hobart." Rob greeted unceremoniously, looking back to his computer's monitor. "You sure went into overtime today, didn't you?"

Hobart lied on their shared bed before replying. "What can I do, Rob? The second I decide to head back home is the second I accept the day being over. Nothing more to do here other than watching TV and sleeping."

"That's worrying... Like, I'm also a very outdoor person, I mean, we're Retrievers, we have to be. But there's plenty to do in here too, you shouldn't be using your own home as some kind of hotel."

"Why not? Back in my old home I'd only go back to the house to eat and sleep. I'm trying to keep my lifestyle, ignoring the radical change of scenery."

"What were you even doing outside today? Shooting wild squirrels?"

"I wish... In the morning I did a few laps around the Pond. Then I went to the zoo, managed to talk to some of the animals there. Did you know that the zoo doesn't even have lions? What's up with those movies then?"

"Yeah, they only got the penguins right. I guess they thought a movie with sea lions and red pandas as protagonists wouldn't sell. You mean the Central Park Zoo by 'the Zoo', don't you? You should go to the Bronx Zoo instead, it's way better."

"Go to the Bronx? No thanks, I don't wanna get shot."

"Don't be elitist, Bart. Really? Two weeks in and you're dissing the world outside of this island like that already? Manhattan isn't that much better, you know?"

"But it's the most sanitized part of the city, not in the cleanliness sense, of course. It's the, uuh, sterile, cosmopolitan façade you show to the tourists and try to keep safe. I'm taking it easy and not going too far from home, even though you'd probably say this area is 'too touristy' or 'not real New York'. I really don't see myself walking all the way to Pennsylvania or whatever adventures you go on without Shane."

"That's not my opinion at all, I even live here in Midtown, what makes you think that? Anything within New York City is 'real New York', no matter how, uh, 'international' it might be. I hate when people go all: 'New York isn't real America! Real America is my little generic town in the middle of nowhere!' Why would I do that but to the city instead of the country?"

"Still, I'm not gonna go to the Bronx Zoo by myself. Sorry to disappoint."

"Feel free to refuse my suggestions, just don't wrongly assume Manhattan is surrounded by a war-torn hellscape." Hobart turned the bedroom's TV on at a low volume after some dead air, hugging the blankets and rolling around a little.

"And where did you go after the zoo?" Rob decided to break the silence by asking. "You weren't there for the entire day, right?"

"I walked to one of those parks next to the Hudson and relaxed there, just daydreaming and watching the river. Then I walked to Times Square and tried to do the same, watching the movement. I chose some random steakhouse I saw while walking around and decided to eat lunch there, it was great. I then found this super long elevated pathway with plants on it, pretty good place for exercise! Just this little trail free from traffic in the middle of the buildings."

Rob listened on, nodding and chuckling at the end. "That sounds like what I do when I decide to spend the day outside. Well, mostly. I avoid Times Square because it only caters to tourists who just want to take some 'me in New York' selfie and then never come back."

"So it's 'not real New York'?" Hobart smirked.

"It is 'real New York', it's just the little part of the city that tries to attract some revenue only by being iconic, rather than having actual entertainment value. People who know the city well know that there's nothing there, so they just ignore it. Biggest thing there's the Times Square - 42nd Street Subway Station, there are so many routes where you have to transfer there, but that's all underground."

"Yeah, can't say I have the courage to use the Subway by myself yet."

"You haven't? You walked all the way from the Zoo to the end of the High Line and back by foot? Jeez."

"Walked to the end of the what now?"

"The High Line, the pathway you mentioned. How do you visit something without knowing its name?"

"By finding it. I'm a country dog, Bro. I'm not gonna use my little cellphone to find things to do, I'll explore and find them on my own, be it in a forest or a city."

"Fair enough. Glad to know you're enjoying stuff, even if you're confining yourself to the small urban bubble you'd probably call 'Hell on Earth' a few weeks ago."

"Well, I'm adaptable. Being a country dog, I'll survive in whatever weird environment my family decides to force upon me. I know that you'd just melt into nothing if you had to live somewhere without your extremely specific needs."

"I've stayed in countless places where you have nothing to do other than stare at pretty mountains, Bart. How many times do I have to tell you that? And you're not a 'country dog', stop repeating that. You were born in a city, live in a city, and you didn't even live in a farm or somewhere really remote, just a rural house in the outskirts of a small town."

"Ugh, you're really treating me living here as a permanent affair. You're already talking about my previous life Upstate as if it happened decades ago."

"Your fault for adapting to living here so well and so fast."

Hobart sighed, stopping his periodic rolling to just look at Rob, his brother still only looking at his monitor and eating. "That's kinda your fault for showing me so much of the city, you know? You tried to convince me to at least tolerate this place, and I guess you succeeded, congrats."

"I just want your happiness. You also showed me everything you liked to do back when I was in your old place, I even enjoyed some of it. That's because you wanted me to enjoy my stay, right?"

"Right." Hobart nodded melancholically.

Rob sighed after some silence, pondering something. "When do you plan on moving out, Bart?"

Hobart stared curiously, surprised by the blunt question. "I... I dunno. Next year?"

"Really? What happened to you wanting to stay here a week at most?"

"I'm comfortable here, Rob, as much as it hurts my pride to admit it. I don't wanna risk things by quitting this comfortable urban life at the moment. Just like how I didn't want to throw my old life away just because of my parents being scared of me getting sick. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"Huh. Then why did you move out of New York to begin with? You lived really comfortably with our parents, and then with your new, very temporary owners. But then you threw it all away just because of a little Upstate trip you enjoyed way too much."

"I was a pup, Rob! Don't blame me for that! I went to a place where I had lots of fun with new things to do, then went back home, where everything was the same as ever. How do you expect a pup to process that? I wanted excitement forever!"

Rob laughed. "I see your point. My first trip with my human family was to London, we had a lot of fun, I can see myself demanding my family to move there if I were a little more assertive at the time."

"Did you really fly across the ocean for your very first trip outside of the city?"

"Yeah."

Hobart chuckled, looking back to the TV again. "You're just nuts with this travel stuff."

"I'm gonna fly tomorrow, did you know? By myself." Rob suddenly informed.

"What?! Aren't you going a bit too far with your little adventures without Shane now?"

"It's the obvious next step, isn't it? Start with your neighborhood, like you're stuck doing right now, then move on to the rest of the city, the whole tri-state region, then you just start flying out."

"You're really serious? That sounds very dangerous."

"I'm an adult, Bart. I can fly by myself... But anyways, this isn't an idea I had on a whim or anything like that, I'm gonna fly out with Brian. Tomorrow I'm gonna go out on a day trip to Chicago."

"Haha. Oh, Rob. A day trip to Chicago? That's nuts. Shane knows that, doesn't he?"

"Of course. He trusts Brian, he's fine with it."

"Well, good luck then. Wanna give me a postcard?"

"Heh, do you really want one?"

"Give me some souvenir, just for fun... Are you trying to replace Shane with Brian? Since Shane's too busy to just travel right now?"

"I wish being busy was his only reason for that, recent years haven't been too kind to him. This is actually Brian's trip, he just offered to bring me along. While I just wanna go there to be some annoying tourist, Brian's there to see his daughters."

"Uh-huh. He's told me about them."

"What did he say? I think his opinions on them might have gone one-eighty after today."

"He said that they're very fixated on wealth and hopefully would find more to life by living in a suburban, more communal neighborhood."

"Hah, that didn't go so well for them."

"Uh, why didn't it?"

"They got immediately assaulted. Well, one of them did. Brian's gonna visit them in a hospital tomorrow, I'm gonna part ways with him from the airport and then meet up with him again at the boarding gate in the evening."

"Oh. Oh no. I hope they recover well... But they moved to Chicago, what did they expect? What did Brian expect?"

"Hobart!" Rob finally looked away from his computer, glaring at his brother in the bed. "Elitism! They didn't even decide to live there! Chicago isn't constant shootings like farm people believe it is."

"Sorry... I shouldn't even be mocking Chicago, living here."

Rob got up from his desk, walking towards one of the bedroom's cabinets. "It's weird going on a plane trip without check-in luggage, but since I'm not even sleeping there, I don't think I need it." He opened one of the drawers. "I'm just gonna get my camera, I'll show you a lot of pictures once I'm back." He examined a large camera he grabbed from the drawer.

"Be safe, Rob, alright? Hope you enjoy this little sudden journey."

"I'll come back to torment you, don't worry. It's just a typical day out, just with two two-hour-long plane rides in it."

"It still has its dangers. You should stop going out *so* much and *so* far. It's been all fine, but all it takes is one day for you to lose your life, and all prospects of future fun days out."

"If I need to be confined to my home, doing the same thing over and over, just to be completely safe, then I'd rather just die. No point in surviving if it means living a life like that."

"Wow, Rob. You wouldn't make it through this year as a human, would you?"

"Probably not." Rob finished checking his camera, walking back to his computer and sitting again, putting the camera on the desk. "Shane's gonna wake me up at around five A.M., he's gonna drop me off at LaGuardia. Do you wanna spend tomorrow in our parents' house? I'll probably be back at around one A.M."

Hobart thought for a moment. "Sure, I'll spend tomorrow with them, then. Will Shane be fine with driving a little more to drop me off there?"

"Of course he will. It's close to the airport, that's why I'm asking. It's also outside of Manhattan, gotta convince you that the rest of the city isn't a death trap. How about you go out around Queens with Mom and Dad? Dog! I haven't done that in so long! Suddenly I wanna do that instead of going to Chicago!" Rob wagged from his chair.

"Do you seriously mean that? You'd sacrifice a trip to hang out with them?"

Rob snickered. "No, I wouldn't. I'm really exaggerating. That's a good idea for the coming days, though."

"If your plane doesn't crash."

"If my plane doesn't crash, if I don't have a sudden unavoidable stroke, if some nuclear bomb doesn't suddenly destroy Chicago, if our parents' house doesn't randomly explode with you there, there's no point in worrying about extremely unlikely possibilities, Bart."

"Good point. It's just, you know, I don't trust those flying pieces of metal."

"It's all just differences in pressure pushing something upwards as it speeds up. Meanwhile you're fine with getting to Mom and Dad's using a metal cage that's going over fifty per hour and constantly dodging other cages."

"Ugh! I know, I know!" Hobart groaned. "I always get that reply. 'Oh, I don't like planes', 'Well then what about cars?', the difference is that a fatal car crash is usually very sudden, plane crashes would give you plenty of time for you to panic and despair just before your death."

"Oh, who cares? It all ends in death anyways. It's like people going on about how fortunate it is that someone died in their sleep while surrounded by loved ones as if that makes a lick of difference in the end."

"It does, though. If you lived a very fulfilling life, you can appreciate it better."

"Appreciate it from where, if it's over?"

"From the afterlife."

"Ugh, and there's the indoctrination your old owners hammered into your head. If this were one century ago they'd just tell you that there isn't even an afterlife for non-humans, you know?"

"And they'd be wrong, so what? People progress with time, people start understanding things better, doesn't mean that a concept's wrong just because it had to be corrected. Isn't that the whole point of science?"

"Fair enough, Bart." Rob dismissively rolled his eyes. "Sorry for bringing this stuff up. We should probably be going to sleep right now, having to be up at freaking five and all."

"Let me get that started then." Hobart rolled in the bed, facing away from Rob this time. Rob stubbornly continued his computer pastimes.

O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, Friday 8:43 AM

The two Golden Retrievers sat on two adjacent seats in the aircraft cabin's left side, waiting to leave their seats after the plane stopped at a gate. Rob wagged while looking through the window, seeing the terminal building and other parked planes, while Brian just waited impatiently.

"What are you looking at that's so exciting?" Brian asked Rob after a small chuckle.

"What do you mean? I'm just waiting."

"Well, your tail is wagging to the point I could use it as a fan."

"So what, Brian? I'm happy to be alive, alright? I guess I'm just eager to explore another city, sorry for all my involuntary fidgeting."

"It's fine. I'm glad you're enjoying this sudden trip with me, I feel like I'm doing a good deed to start making up for what I did to my daughters."

"You don't need to gift me things anymore. Did you forget the apartment already? I'm good, help other people now."

"Of course I didn't! It's the whole reason why we're here! This whole 'kick out my daughters and give their home to Rob' idea was so dumb and reckless! What's my problem?!"

"What do you think you should've done instead?"

"Just try to be nicer. Show them how money isn't everything, at least try to go somewhere with them. They weren't even hostile to me, just a little rude, a little wary, I let my pride be hurt and just excused a cruel punishment with the fact that I was bestowing you and encouraging Carla's whims."

"Getting a little speech-y there, Brian."

"Yeah, yeah." Brian shook his head. "Whatever, this is a new beginning."

Rob looked at Brian's impatient waiting. "Don't try to get to the aisle as soon as you're allowed to, by the way. Wait until the line of people starts moving and then just step in carefully when you see a large gap."

Brian nodded. "Alright."

"Do you have any checked-in baggage? I didn't notice."

"I don't. I barely have anything on me, I'm only with the stuff I usually bring to work."

"Alright, that's good. I hate going through baggage claim. In all of the probably hundreds of flights I've taken, I don't think our bags were ever the first ones to arrive on the belt."

"You don't have to handhold me through all of this, you know? I've flown before, just with my humans instead."

"Oh, sorry. It's just so nice to share this experience with someone other than Shane or the witch he used to be married to."

Brian suppressed furrowing his brows at the sudden, cutting remark. "Treat this as a subway ride, alright? Just a flying, really long one."

"A subway ride with security checkpoints and tons of waiting. Things aren't that bad yet, Mister Car Driver." Rob teasingly put an arm around Brian.

"I still use the Subway sometimes, parking a car is a chore most of the time." The two briefly stopped talking, Brian looking for a gap in the line of leaving passengers. "Is this a good spot to leave, Rob?" He rapidly asked while a passenger held up the line from behind them, struggling to get his luggage out.

"Just go!" Rob hurried. "Didn't you just complain about 'handholding'?"

"Ooh." Brian feigned being shocked by Rob's sudden hastiness. "Just making sure, with my pro traveler friend." The two entered the aisle, walking towards the airport gate.

The two entered the airport, Brian slowing down a little, making Rob take the lead as he maintained a confident stride through the familiar airport. "Do you have transportation figured out, Brian?"

"I have, don't worry."

"Alright. I'm gonna take the L down to the Loop, pretty much gonna ride the entire northern part of the Blue Line, gonna take forever, since I don't think they have express trains here. Humph, small towns." Rob sarcastically scoffed.

"I'm supposed to meet up with some people here, at 'Vestibule 2C', can you guide me there?"

"Sure." Rob shrugged, changing his direction sharply. "But it shouldn't be a problem to find if you know how to follow numerical and alphabetical orders."

"Fancy way of saying 'if you know the alphabet and how to count'."

"Heheh, I got that from you." Rob processed a little more of the recent conversation while in silence. "You're meeting up with 'some people'? Are your daughters here?" He asked.

"Of course not. It's... Uuh... My employees."

"What?! Since when does this trip have anything to do with your job?!"

"Not P.I.S. employees... They're... Um..." Brian gave up, sighing. "My bodyguards." He revealed shyly.

"Really, Brian? You're that scared of River Ridge?"

"I have to be! My job makes me a target! I've told you that over and over! Haven't you heard of what they did to that ferret who advocates for equality? Who even lives here? I might not have a political agenda, but I'm helping non-humans with that all the same!"

"I mean, he probably deserved it." Rob rolled his eyes. "Isn't he a 'giant hypocrite'?"

"He probably just wants pet equality but keeps using the wrong words for it... But considering the whole publicity stunt last year, kidnapping and 'disappearing' a bunch of human teenagers to pretend they've been turned to ferals who want to join his self-ownership program, maybe he does deal with really shady stuff. Too late anyways, I'll be escorted around here no matter what."

"You didn't bring your gun here, did you? If you didn't I can see why you're feeling so defenseless."

"Of course I didn't. I don't know why you make such a big deal about it, it's just an extra precaution. I don't feel 'defenseless', I just don't wanna take unnecessary risks in my very first trip far from home alone. Especially considering what the folk from here did to my daughter."

"You did tell me that they were a bit acerbic, maybe they, uh, had it coming?"

"Rob!" Brian barked. "Nothing short of self-defense justifies beating someone to a pulp! They're rude, but they're not violent!"

"And what justifies throwing them out of a city they love living in?"

"Nothing! I was impulsive and stupid! I've confessed that already, I'm sorry! I'm only human!"

Rob chortled, confused. "What? No, you're not, no matter how much you try to pretend to be one."

"Whatever, it's an expression. I'm not perfect, you know what I mean."

"Right." Rob continued guiding Brian towards his destination. "How are you getting to the hospital? Are you taking a train with your bodyguards?"

"They'll drive me there, everything's arranged. I guess they're more like escorts than bodyguards."

"Uh-huh. I guess you're not gonna rent a car here."

"Of course not. It's really doubtful they'd have cars adapted for my size here anyways."

"With more and more dogs starting to drive to work, there might be a demand for it, you know?"

"I know, but I wouldn't count on it."

"How's your human-like life going anyways? That's something we rarely discuss. Going through two airports by myself like this today, you're even giving me a taste of that, how's work?"

"It's alright. Overwhelming and confusing at times, but I really like setting up a system and then just seeing it working, knowing that it's being used by and appreciated by thousands of people."

"Good to know. Good to see your altruism extending even to the stuff you do for money."

"I started doing it for Peter, frankly. But as it grew I started giving it more importance and realizing how crucial it is to a lot of people."

"Of course. It's everything separating some independent pets from being considered unwanted vermin that humans could just decide to kill and get away with."

"It's a harsh world. But imagine if every single animal, or even just every pet, had the same living standards as a human, the environment would never handle that. There's already all the people calling raising pets 'eco-unfriendly' and saying that non-humans should just all go back to the woods to save the environment."

"'Back to the woods', hah! Don't know why use the word 'back' there, most pets have never lived in the wilds ever. We dogs were even created alongside civilization, we should get a pass on that, we're not naturally wild at all."

"Separatism makes no sense anyways, there's plenty of contributions that non-humans have made to civilization, we've never been separate from humans, civilizations aren't even a human invention to begin with. But what can you do? There'll always be people who think we should live in the woods, while they get to keep their cushy civilized lives because they think that's only 'natural' if it's a human doing that. If only they could travel to the utopian alternate universe where only humans are intelligent and civilized, the alternate universe where environmental resources are plentiful because only humans are using them."

The two dogs finally arrived at the vestibule mentioned by Brian. "Are they here? Your bodyguards? Escorts? PMC?"

Brian looked around the entrance. "They are, I see them. Gotta be discrete." He started walking away from Rob slowly. "See you again this night then, Rob! Goodbye! Enjoy Chicago and please, be careful!"

Rob waved at his friend, failing to guess where exactly were his bodyguards. "Bye! Good luck with your daughters! See you soon!"

Mount Carmel Hospital Veterinary Center, River Ridge, Illinois, Friday 10:22 AM

Brian entered the sector of the hospital dedicated to non-human patients, wearing a gown mandatory for unclothed guests visiting the sterilized building. Two bulky humans followed him silently and emotionlessly side-by-side, wearing full suits with black sunglasses and black face masks.

He sighted Carla waiting by the waiting room's seats, the woman looking at him already. He changed his direction and approached her. "Uh, hello, Carla." He greeted hesitantly, stopping in front of ther.

"Hello. Glad to see you came, Brian. More punctual than last time, even."

"Of course I came, it's the least I could do."

She apprehensively looked at the two humans standing by the dog's sides. "Who are these men, Brian?" Carla tried to ask quietly.

"Escorts, just in case."

"Seriously? Don't you think you're exaggerating a little? Is this your way of subtly mocking this city's crime rate? And also showing off your power?"

"Of course not, I just really don't wanna get into trouble hundreds of miles away from home. If you think two bodyguards is exaggerating, you should take a look at the bulletproof black Hummer I used to get here." Brian laughed good-naturedly.

"OK, OK. Can we two get some privacy, though? Just for a while? This is a hospital, I don't think this security's necessary, I don't even know how it's allowed."

"I have no plans of discussing private matters with you." Brian bluntly changed his demeanor. "Just tell me how Lisa and Luna are and direct me to them."

"Lisa's probably getting discharged today, Luna's back home, she only visited the hospital yesterday. Hopefully in some hours I'll have Lisa back and this unfortunate episode will be finally over."

"Uh, are you seriously considering moving out of here? After so little time?"

"We'll decide things democratically once we're all home. I'm considering moving to the Near North Side of Chicago, but the two are still extremely attached to Manhattan, we'll see."

"Huh. Well, uh... Sorry for my Babylon Gardens suggestion. I did tell you it was a joke, it was just this completely irrelevant, featureless place that a dog I knew was very unreasonably proud of. It ended up getting a little stuck in my head at the time and that led to me trying to reference an inside joke to you for no reason. And knowing how that directly led to this situation, I'm really sorry. You should've just moved to the Hamptons."

"You didn't trigger things so directly, don't worry, Brian. I don't blame you, sorry for getting my anger out of control in that phone call. I was already planning on moving out-of-state before your visit, you just rushed things. And also bought my old place for a premium at a time property prices are plummeting there."

"Yeah, I hope that ends up bettering their lives in some way. I still have plans of trying to make them act better, but I can't do that over the course of a hospital visit, probably. And I don't see myself flying back here to this region day after day just to talk to them in person."

"Are you suggesting we should move to New York so we're close to you again?"

"Even though I'm their father, I don't believe I'm in a place to interfere with your chosen place of residence. But if they end up living nearby again, I'll actually try to get close to them and better them this time."

"I think you ended up seeing the worst possible side of them that day. I talked to them after that, they claimed you were probably trying to use your parenthood to get favors from them."

"Like what?! All I wanted was some basic mutual respect! I never needed 'favors'!" Brian shook his head after the accidental exclamation. "Sorry. I'll go over that with them, I am here for a reason, after all."

"Let me guide you to her room, then." Carla started walking, Brian and his bodyguards following. She gazed behind her after some moments. "Are these two guys really gonna enter her room with you?"

"They're just bodyguards, Carla. They're here for our protection, and therefore are exclusively paying attention to everything in the hospital besides us. Do you feel like our privacy's being breached?"

"They're not robots. They're still hearing us and, I'd assume, thinking about how annoying I am for bringing this up now. But since it's just you and Lisa from now on, I won't bring it up anymore." She reached a closed door to the room with Brian's daughter. "She's here, knock a little to not scare her and get in."

Brian pondered a little as he reached the door. "She's expecting me, isn't she? You did say she was 'begging for me'."

"Yes. I don't know why she remembered you only after getting beaten, she told me many times she doesn't care about the biological link between you two, discuss that with her."

Brian nodded, furrowing his brows. "Thanks, Carla. Sorry about all that's happening." He knocked on the door lightly and opened it after hearing no answer. Brian and his two bodyguards entered the room, one of the two suited men closing the door. The gowned Golden Retriever signalled for the two to stay by the doors, far from the bed, as he approached Lisa. He looked at her with pity, looking at the large casts on her left leg and arm, many bruises were barely visible due to the fur covering her. She looked back at Brian silently, almost passing off as being asleep if it weren't for her opened eyes. Brian leaned on the bed before carefully hugging his daughter's torso, leaning his head against her abdomen. "Lisa... My daughter... I'm so glad you're OK, what happened to you?" He continued the hug, looking at her face concernedly.

"This city happened to me, that's all." Lisa started, no signs of weakness in her voice despite her apparent condition. "Can't even walk by myself without getting dragged into some building and beaten up there." She scoffed.

Brian stopped his hug, now standing next to Lisa's head while looking down on her. "I'm so sorry, Lisa. You're safe now, alright? I feel so bad you had to go through this, I can't even imagine the pain you had to endure, the misery of being stuck in a hospital, especially for someone as lively as you."

"I'm managing. They actually have cable TV here, believe it or not."

Brian looked around the room quickly, seeing a TV hanging from the ceiling he hadn't noticed before, facing the hospital bed. "Oh. Still, there's way more to life than a TV. Carla told me you're likely being discharged today, soon it'll be over."

"Yeah, I know. I don't know why they have to keep me here for so long after putting the casts on, I'm not gonna suddenly get worse and die, am I? It's not like I have a disease... But yeah, soon I will be gone from this prison and back to my other prison, that stupid house in the middle of nowhere where I can't even go outside without dogs trying to murder me."

"Yeah, I'm sorry you were forced to live here. Really sorry, things will get better, don't worry." He started lightly petting Lisa's head.

"Why do you keep saying you're sorry? None of this is your fault."

Brian widened his eyes, concerned about his choices of words. "Uh... I'm saying I'm 'sorry' as in 'I'm sorry this happened' not as in 'I regret that I made this happen'." He excused.

"Oh. Kinda like when somebody dies and everyone in the funeral keeps repeating 'I'm sorry' over and over, I get it."

"Let's avoid such morbid topics while inside a freaking hospital, alright?"

"Alright, Dad." Lisa tried to make a cuter face, smiling. "We haven't seen each other beyond that very brief visit of yours to my old apartment, have we?"

"No, nothing beyond that unfortunate visit."

"Well, first of all, sorry about my actions. I remember thinking you were a stray dog wanting to live there for free because you're my father, sorry for assuming that. Luna has told me that you're actually a very respectable dog."

"Don't imply that stray dogs don't deserve respect, Lisa." He scolded carefully, still petting her. "Yeah, I'm 'rich', my humans are 'rich', let me get that out of the way so you don't assume I'm an opportunist. Getting more money into my personal bank account is one of my lowest priorities right now."

Lisa facepalmed using her non-casted arm. "Oh, dog! I know! Luna told me! I was such a ***! I now know all you wanted was to have some fun or something."

"I want to have fun, but most importantly, I must try to raise you well. You've developed a mentality that can be destructive to your life, I really want to help you fix that, for your own good, for your own happiness." Brian leaned closer to her head.

"And how would you do that?"

"By guiding you. I never thought of myself as someone who's wise, but I'm almost four times your age, you know? And spending time with Luke, even in our first days out, I noticed I can really act like a veteran dad, really!" The father told humorously.

"Hm, OK." Lisa tried to give a smile.

Brian returned to just standing next to Lisa, stopping rubbing the top of her head. "Uh... Lisa, why did you call for me?" He asked after thinking for a moment. "Why did you tell Carla to send me here?"

Luna smiled nervously, trying to think fast. "Uh, I called for everyone I know, actually. I was a little desperate at the time, calling for all my previous friends in New York and all, who I all miss very much, by the way, Dad. I remembered you coming home and wanting to be friends."

Brian looked at her suspiciously. "And the fact that Luna told you I'm rich has nothing to do with it?"

Lisa froze. "Ugh. I can't lie to you, can I? It definitely influenced it. I wanted help from Mom, and I wanted help from my powerful biological Dad, just in case she wasn't enough. That's all. I'm willing to be your friend, I'm sorry for treating you more seriously just because you have money, but it's a fact that's hard to ignore."

"Alright." Brian nodded. "Do you want me to maybe do something with whoever did this to you? You haven't told me what exactly happened, who beat you up?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Dad. It's an inevitability of living in such a terrible, boring-yet-super-dangerous neighborhoo-" Lisa interrupted herself after glancing at the two strong escorts standing next to the room's door. "Who did this to me were Duchess, Boris, and Yeltsin. They're dogs operating from the 'Good Old Dogs Club', Patrick Street, Babylon Gardens. It's in a two-story building that looks almost abandoned." She suddenly informed clearly.

Brian flinched a little, surprised by the loss of reluctance. "Oh, OK. I'll see if I can do something. I feel a little disgusted using my power like this, knowing that it's only possible due to my arbitrary position of power, but at least I'll be doing a favor in making your new neighborhood safer. Sad to see dog clubs being used like this." Brian started pondering quietly, trying to remember the relationship between a dog club in Babylon Gardens and Bino, a dog he's acquainted with who's also a new friend of Rob's.

"Do you think it's possible I might be moving back?" Lisa broke the sudden silence. "Mom told me that she's considering that after all this."

"It's likely, she said that once you're discharged she's gonna consider it, and make it a more democratic decision with you two."

"Oh! Uh." Lisa tried to hide her joy. "That's good to know."

"And I plan on raising you well, Lisa. Can't really do that if you're living in Illinois. Make your wishes clear to Carla, and if she still decides to live somewhere you're not one hundred percent fine with, just tell me, alright?" Brian looked at his daughter assuredly.

Lisa smiled broadly at her father, trying to disguise it as soon as she noticed it. "I'm glad to hear that, Dad. Glad to know you have my back." She thanked nonchalantly.

Brian suddenly nuzzled his head against Lisa's, making her almost protest the sudden violation of personal space. "Oh, Lisa! My Daughter!" He cheered after being done, now patting her head again. "You're the cutest thing! This is my biggest weak point, I swear. Darn paternal instincts. I'm gonna assure you a great life, just like I'm trying with Luke, but be aware that part of living a great life is having a nicer personality, and we'll have to work on that too."

"Whatever, Dad. I'll gladly be brainwashed by you if it means living in New York again. I'd go through anything to get that back."

"That's... Good to hear... I'm gonna go join Carla now, alright?" Brian started slowly distancing himself from the hospital bed while still looking at her. "We'll keep contact, so hopefully I'll see you soon, in way better circumstances."

"See you soon, Dad! Thanks for coming!"

"You're welcome! Even if you only got hurt for attention, I'm really looking forward to parenting you. Get well soon!" He waved from the door, preparing to leave.

"Of course I didn't get hurt on purpose! What?!" Lisa shouted from the bed.

"Just saying. I know how convenient an event like this would be for changing Carla's mind, and it sure would work. You won't have to live in a place you hate anymore, alright? Carla will help you with that, and if she doesn't, I will. But this won't happen without a cost, I still really worry about your attitude, and so does Carla. Bye! See you soon!" He opened the door, the two escorts almost robotically turning to follow the dog.

"See you soon! Sorry for mistreating you!"

"We all make mistakes, Lisa. Bye for now." He left the room, heading back to the waiting area.

Brian wiped his forehead. "Whew, heavy stuff, isn't it?" He commented humorously, looking at one of his bodyguards. "Hope you two are enjoying all this family drama."

"We're not in a place to comment, Sir." The man Brian was directly looking at answered.

"Feel free to, though. Forget about your job for a second. The majority of dogs don't care about their children, their offspring, they don't raise them like humans like you do. You're aware of that, right? We breed just to give humans more pets, not to actually accompany them through life, does all of this feel weird to you?"

"Uh... No, I think it's nice you're taking care of your daughters. I own a dog myself, if her long-lost parents decided to pay us a visit, I think she'd be overjoyed."

"Eh... You're projecting human thinking onto her. Like, if my parents decided to visit me, even with my recent experiences with parenting, I don't think I'd care too much, I don't think I'd be emotional. Forming those deep bonds is something that's more culturally, maybe even psychologically, human... Or maybe this is all wrong and dogs are really supposed to raise their pups just like humans raise their kids. If that's the case, I'm happy I'm at least contributing to a normalization of dogs raising their own families without humans dictating them."

"Uh-huh... You keep treating me like I'm a fellow dog, it's weird talking about humans in the third-person like that. I don't plan on having my dog bring new dogs into the world, and if I asked her she'd probably say no. But maybe she actually wants it, but hides it because dogs aren't supposed to decide that by themselves if they have an owner. It's really complicated."

"Indeed..." Brian sighed, glancing at the man's wrist. "What time is it?" He asked formally.

The escort checked his watch. "Ten fifty-nine, almost eleven."

"Whoa, talk about having time to spare. And I thought going all the way to Chicago for only one day would make today rushed. Dunno what I'm gonna do while Lisa isn't discharged. You two are from here, aren't you? Do you have any restaurant suggestions? It's all on the house!" Brian lightened up, smiling.
Last edited by Wortge on Sat Oct 03, 2020 3:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Amazee Dayzee
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Amazee Dayzee »

You are doing some very wonderful work! Keep on writing because this s just splendid!
Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Flight AA357, Over Brooklyn, New York, Friday 11:17 PM

The two traveling dogs again sat on two adjacent seats on the left side, Rob looked at the view from the window intently as the plane approached the airport while Brian just turned his head and tried to make out something from his distance.

"Yes! I think this plane's gonna do the runway four approach!" Rob cheered discretely to Brian.

"What's special about it?" Brian replied, his voice a little tired and monotone. "Is it gonna make us land earlier?"

"Don't be so utilitarian, Brian." Rob admonished. "It gives us a great view of Manhattan, that's why it's more exciting. And it actually is also a quicker approach, now that I think of it."

"Hm. That's good to know. You get your city views and I get to get home and sleep a few minutes earlier."

"You sleep this early?"

"Of course, Rob. Welcome to having a full-time job."

"Ugh, please no." Rob returned to observing in silence, looking at the city lights beyond the nighttime darkness of the river estuary. "There's the Statue of Liberty." He tried to point out to his friend, checking if he was also looking. "It was gifted to the city by the French some centuries ago, making the most iconic landmark of the US be some French sculpture, well played."

Brian snickered. "Are you seriously 'tour-guiding' me, Rob? On the Statue of Liberty, out of all things? I know, it's the little statue in the middle of the river, you grow up seeing that thing, it's about as ordinary as the sky to me."

"Yeah, yeah. That makes me wonder how somebody being raised inside a cave would react to the sky, actually."

Brian paid more attention to the view after the quick exchange, seeing the skyscrapers of Manhattan coming into view. "There's your proud new home, Rob. The best place in the entire world, according to you." He commented humorously as Rob just observed the city pass by. "And considering the amount of places around the world you've been to, maybe you actually have a point?"

Rob chuckled, shaking his head. "You love it or you hate it, Brian. I've accepted that. I can't imagine living somewhere where you don't get to see a sight like this every day, though."

"The buildings are all lit up, you see cars going up and down everywhere. Does this city look 'dead' to you?"

"Ugh, no need to bring that up again. I'm also over that."

"Good to know." Brian tapped his friend's back.

"A lot of the stuff I used to enjoy is 'dead', though. But, oh well, something's gonna replace them. This madness is gonna reset a lot of things, give us new things to try out, that's how I try to cope."

"Good way to look at it. This is the start of a new era, a new norm-"

"That term is almost as bad as 'trying times', Brian." Rob cut in. "Please no."

"Alright. Hard to avoid buzzwords when working in management, haha."

"Oh, and there's Midtown!" Rob returned his attention to the window view. "Can't see my new home, but it's somewhere in the middle of the cluster."

"Shane and your brother are there, do you miss them?"

"Of course not, it's been mere hours. Hobart's with my parents for today, not there. And I've lived pretty much my whole life away from him anyways."

"But you two have been together for weeks already, at this point you just assume to always have him with you, right?"

"Umm... Right. But I've gone for longer times without seeing him recently. He's been going out by himself a lot now, guy can't just stay home and try to enjoy games or the Internet for a while, always out exercising or exploring."

"Wow, really? What about 'hating civilization'? Were you just mistaken about him?"

"I think he had low expectations for living here and now he's pleasantly surprised. Still won't venture too far though, he thinks Central Manhattan is touristy and therefore super safe. Absolutely ridiculous notion, obviously coming from somebody who's never seen the amount of pickpockets in areas full of tourists, especially in Europe."

"But do you really wanna convince him things are worse than he thinks?"

"I wanna convince him things elsewhere are about as safe as Manhattan. He keeps thinking he's living in some oasis of tranquility, that Midtown Manhattan is some idyllic, utopian fortress where the rich live while the rest of the city struggles to survive."

"Doesn't he also believe that people are rightfully fleeing from Manhattan though?"

"Fleeing to beyond the city limits, he thinks that as soon as you're somewhere like Yonkers, New Rochelle, or Nassau County, you're back to the safety of Manhattan. And also can find some affordable giant mansion easily."

"Heh. I get it. He feels walled-in by the less reputable, less advertised parts of New York around him."

"I try to convince him a little. He's never gone beyond the Central Park Reservoir to the north, 13th Street to the south. Has never touched a subway station without me going along, too. I can't imagine being willingly confined to that area, as dense as it is."

"Weren't you restricted to only College Point during your puppyhood? By both your parents *and* your owners?"

"Of course! And it was horrible! Especially considering how bland and barren College Point is! Might as well have spent my puppyhood in Lake George with Hobart instead!"

"Jeez. Going all-out on your hometown, huh? At least it has access to the City."

"Barely! First of all: My 'hometown' is the whole city of New York, not Astoria, or College Point, or even Manhattan. No place for borough provincialism or even *neighborhood* provincialism here. And you shouldn't feel hurt, you moved to Malba in the first years of your life. College Point has no relevance to you anymore."

"Except for my club and all? Come on, Rob. Of course I care about it."

"It's within that neighborhood but it's the closest dog club for a lot of places beyond it, bears little relevance. Did you change the name, by the way? Following Jon's suggestion?"

"Yeah, it's been the 'dog club' for a while now, not the 'dogs club'. Haven't you seen the new sign?"

"Oh... Well, I've seen it, but I haven't read it. You kinda assume it'll always say the same thing forever, you know?"

Brian laughed. "Alright. If we ever change it again I'll try to change up the font at least."

"Nah, I like the minimalism." Rob returned to giving full attention to the landing. "We're almost touching the ground, Brian. Here's a very important travel tip, never, *ever*, clap after a landing, alright?"

"Uh, I've never done that. Why not?"

"It's just silly, do you know how many Europeans mock us for that? Clapping after landing safely? It's not even an accurate stereotype, I've heard claps in European regional flights too."

"Alright, I'll desperately resist clapping upon landing then." He joked.

"Please. Don't howl or something either."

"Is that another stereotype?"

"No. And I don't want you to start it." Rob braced for the touchdown, trying to make out the runway in the night. He started looking away from the window after feeling the impact, then looking directly at Brian. "There we go. Chicago in only one day! What an experiment."

"Hooray." Brian cheered monotonously, threatening to clap by bringing his two paws together.

"Don't do it." Rob held up a finger.

"Can I do it once we're off the runway?"

"No! Since when are you such a jokester, Brian? Had a good day today?"

"Honestly? I kinda did."

"What happened in the hospital? Made amends with your daughters?"

"Well, no. They don't really think I'm responsible for their situation, I almost messed things up by accidentally implying I was at fault, actually."

"Oh, right. They think me and Shane bought their house, forgot about that. Why were you even called, then?"

"Because they remembered I'm rich, probably. They know I can help them with moving back to their old city, and I'm willing, even Carla is now, she feels really bad about the experience and wants to make up for it. Being a victim doesn't make you automatically right, though, I'm gonna try to better then if they move back to here. It's my responsibility.

"Uh-huh. Good luck. I've talked to Lisa briefly, she seemed reasonably nice."

"What do you think she assumed you were?"

"Uuh... That I was a dog owned by the guy checking out their apartment."

"And how wealthy do you think she assumed you were?"

"Well, to be interested in buying her house like that, lump-sum. Probably extremely wealthy, not really the case, heh."

"Bingo. That's why she respected you. The opposite happened to me, the two thought I was homeless and trying to get a little taste of their life by visiting them. Just imagine how badly they treated me, and then keep in mind that's also how they treat everyone they assume are poor. Nobody deserves that type of treatment, it's just disgusting. Especially if they're *actually* poor, people struggling to pay their bills don't need to be treated like dirt on top of that."

"Yeah, I guess they might be a little two-faced. Try helping them with that then."

"Time to dabble into psychology a little. I keep making my own life harder and harder, don't I?"

"If you ever feel like exhaustion is getting to you I'll always be there to be a friend, never forget that, please."

"Of course, Rob. No point in repeating these generic reassurances."

"Oh, sorry, um... So, how was the visit exactly? If you feel like talking about it."

"I was driven from the airport to the hospital in a black, bulletproof SUV. It made me feel really important, haha. But it's actually pretty affordable."

"What isn't 'affordable' to you?"

"Cutting-edge business jets, penthouses in major cities, superyachts, my own residence, if it were for sale, etcetera, etcetera."

"Oh, poor you. And I guess anything not in this list is affordable to everyone else?"

"It depends. Today's services cost me about five hundred, if you can't even spare that for one special day, then you're probably near the bottom percentiles."

"Brian! You're a little out of touch! That's a lot for most people! That's about a third of everything I have saved up!"

"You only get an allowance, I'm talking about people who have a formal income. Do you actually need some money for yourself? I could give you six hundred thousand or so, just tell me in cas-"

"No! The howl, Brian? I'm fine with what I have, I don't wanna become richer than my own owner, jeez."

"You don't need to spend it, it's just for safety. Don't assume I'm giving thousands to everyone I meet. So far I have only given one point five million to your father, and two million to my son."

"You gave two million dollars to a six year old?!" Rob facepalmed, chuckling into his paw.

"It's a way of teaching him about responsibility, see how he spends it. He's made me really proud so far."

"What's stopping his owner from just taking it from him?"

"Trust."

"Huh. Glad it's somehow working out."

"Anyways, back to my hospital visit. Arriving there, I had to wear a gown to be allowed in, interesting experience, wearing that."

"Yeah, I'm not very used to clothing either. It wasn't anything special to you though, was it? Since you've been working in the office now with your suit and all."

"Hah! You think that? I went there like that for three days, never again, it's not my thing at all. Feels like I'm walking while inside a sleeping bag, just this dead fabric surrounding you, making you unable to feel the air. I'd wear that for hygienic purposes, but I'm not gonna sacrifice my comfort just for etiquette."

"Yeah, clothing is for protection against the cold, anything else is just humans being really weird with their cultural values. I hope dogs don't copy human culture to the point where unnecessary, permanent clothing begins getting enforced, I too find it really uncomfortable."

"But anyways, a gown is nothing compared to a full suit, if anything, that gave me some July nostalgia, reminding me of my first days of going out to work daily and visiting my son for the first times. In the hospital we talked for a little, Carla's gonna stop forcing my daughters to live in a place they don't like, I've already covered that. Then I had to do some stuff to pass the time while Lisa was waiting to be discharged, did some stuff around River Ridge before going to the hospital again, just to say goodbye, Luna wasn't even there. I messaged you to ask where you were right after that, and then we met up in Downtown Chicago, that was my day."

"Oh. How was River Ridge? Did you check out the infamous 'Babylon Gardens'?"

"Haha, of course not. We're probably the people outside of there who talk about it the most, all thanks to that friend of yours who was super proud of it until he had to leave."

"Right. Bino. He's ripping 'the Gardens' apart when alone with me now. I guess when you leave a place, it's hard to resist dissing it to make you feel better about your choice."

"It wasn't his choice, was it?"

"No. He lives with a cat who wanted to move here to live close to his girlfriend."

"Right. I vaguely remember him complaining about that cat, in our weird brief exchange, months ago."

"Terrible pet, by the way. Be cautious if some black cat with a missing ear shows up in the club."

"I won't screen people coming in before they even do anything inside, Rob, that's ridiculous. Be more critical with the stuff that dog's been telling you, you've been getting worringly gullible recently."

"The Grape stuff he told me was all true, I checked up on her, I told you what happened already. And since Bino's pet-brother is in an intimate relationship with her, I feel justified extending my distrust to him."

"What about Peanut? He's also intimate with Grape, do you distrust him?"

"I've never heard bad things about Peanut, even coming from Bino."

"Don't you think your trust might have to do with the fact that Peanut's a dog?"

"Of course not. I really hope not, at least. If Bino talked about his annoying dog pet-brother who's associated with a self-confessed dog-abusing ex club guest, I'd distrust that dog too."

"Crazy how Bino's cat brother is associated with Grape, isn't it? Small world."

"Uh, how exactly? It's not a coincidence, Bino only knows about our club because he visited Peanut and Grape months ago. After that, he started spamming the forums with his 'advice'. He moved out because someone bought their house in Babylon Gardens for a lot, some rich woman who kept offering more and more money to them for them to move immediately, to the point New York became affordable for them."

"Oh. Oops."

"What do you mean 'oops'?"

"Just connecting some dots. I think Bino was forced to move out all thanks to me mentioning Babylon Gardens to Carla, which is something I only did because of his rants, haha. I also tried to force her into moving as fast as possible."

"Oh, really? Well, it was all for his best anyways."

"If you think so. It certainly wasn't the best for my daughters." The two stopped talking, paying attention to the plane still taxiing. Brian decided to talk again after contemplating for a while. "Rob." He called for his friend, just to prompt him to look back at him. "You know, about Bino, do you really consider him a friend?"

Rob shot Brian a weird look. "Yeah. Might seem like a weird friendship, considering our first encounter, but he needs new friends here. Also, he moved right next to my parents' house, now *that's* a coincidence that justifies the term 'small world'."

"Ah, really? Interesting... Thing is, Rob, the ones responsible for the assault on Lisa, they were the local dog club there, the club that used to be run by Bino, don't you think that should make you at least a little suspicious of him? Judging by what went on with you and Grape, it seems like you have no tolerance for physical violence, the fact that his, I'd assume, old friends, are very OK with unwarranted violence, don't you think that should make you suspect Bino a little?"

"Well, of course! Why haven't you told me that already? I'll confront him about his old club and why the *** were they trying to kill my best friend's daughter. Is that all?"

"Uh, I'd guess. If I find out Bino's directly related to the attack, he'll be immediately permanently banned, you're fine with that, right?"

"One hundred percent. I haven't had any experience with Bino that made me think he was violent, just a little rude, brash, and a bit of a loudmouth."

"And why are you even befriending him? That sounds kinda terrible."

"Because he's funny. And we can all change people for the better, isn't that what you're trying to do right now?"

"Oh, good point, Rob. I suppose you're right, but be careful with your new friend."

"If he tries to beat me up, I'll tell you, alright?" Rob joked, chuckling.

"Haha. Alright."

(One Month Later)

College Point Dog Club, Friday, September 25 2020, 2:30 PM

Xander and Rob started to finish up their usual talk during one of Rob's occasional visits, Xander preparing to begin playing his tapping game again.

"...And Peanut's been showing his face around here more and more these past days." Xander continued, looking at Rob while leaning on the front of the arcade machine. "I think all the damage you've caused has been fixed. Apart from Grape not wanting to even be in the same road the club's in now."

"Is your friendship with Grape fine? I feel really bad for straining it, by banning her I might have made you getting hurt by Grape more likely."

"Grape's not gonna hurt me, Rob! We're both fine! She isn't angry with me, she knows I have nothing to do with the quarrel between you two. Do you think she's dumb? The problems are between you two only, she understands that. While you think she's gonna kill dogs, she just thinks you're misunderstanding things, getting manipulated, but she believes you have the heart in the right place, at least."

"Maybe I've gone too far... But it's still deadly assault, for a futile motive."

"Well, if you're scared of her, you won't be finding her around here anymore anyways, even with me and Brian unbanning her. Bino won't be seeing her, and she doesn't really care about not spending her days with Peanut here, even now that he's going out without her more. Somehow, everyone got what they wanted."

"Isn't Peanut gonna be a bit sad here without his pet-sister?"

The Beagle chuckled. "You'd think that, but he seems pretty cheerful, as usual. Peanut's fine with everything, I hope."

"Alright. See you later then, good luck playing..." Rob leaned closer to the machine's screen, seeing a stage with no latin letters in it selected. "Uh, how do you read this?"

"'Honuno to Techō', 'Canvas and a Notebook', it means."

"How do you even do that?"

"What do you mean? Reading? It's just like English, you see a bunch of glyphs and they mean something depending on their order. It's two compound kanjis and 'to', which is a kana. 'Honuno', 'to', 'Techō'. 'Sail-cloth', 'and', 'hand-book'. You should work on that before going to Hokkaidō with me next year, you know?"

"Hah! What do you think you're coming with me for? Anyways, see you later, Xan!" Rob started walking away. "Sayonara!"

"Yoi shūmatsu o, Robu!" Xander bowed. "Gurēpu to no kankei o shūsei shiyou, desu ne?"

Rob nodded cluelessly, still walking away. "Sure, Xander." He muttered to himself, giggling. Looking around he saw a familiar club member, a German Shepherd he hadn't seen in a while, he turned away from his planned route towards the exit and walked towards the other dog instead. "Speaking of other languages, look who we finally have back here!" Rob thought to himself as he approached.

"Gaspar!" Rob greeted as the Shepherd noticed his presence and looked at him. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Bonjour!"

"Good afternoon, Rob." Gaspar smiled, his slight French accent already noticeable. "Avoid the gratuitous French, please. Unless you're planning on exclusively speaking it in this conversation."

"I'll spare you from my pronunciations, don't worry." He shook his head. "How are things? I haven't seen you in a while, was even starting to assume you ran off back to France at some point this year."

"I've been spending time with the more local dogs, because, you know, I don't live in walking distance from this club. This is my third time here this month, I'm only visiting this club to see Xander, to be honest."

"Right. Same thing for me, except I'm here to see Brian too, usually."

"Xander told me you're living right in the middle of the city now, is everything fine?"

"Pretty great! My brother from Lake George is living with me now, too. He doesn't even hate it that much, I think, haha."

"Oh, must be a big change for him. That's a big lake in the state, isn't it? Almost in Canada. I wish him the best."

"I wouldn't say 'almost in Canada', more like 'almost in Vermont'."

"Oh, sorry. I've been in this country for years but still don't really know much of its geography."

"Don't be harsh on yourself like that, come on. That lake's precise location isn't really common knowledge, not even in the state. Speaking of Canada, have you been to Montreal?"

"No, I've never been to Québec, or Canada, period. Are you asking because of my native language? Québécois is a horrible distortion of French, I can probably understand English better, I'd rather go to Toronto or something."

"Hahaha! I've always been told that the French are horrible towards the people from Quebec, now I can actually confirm it, that's pretty harsh."

"Oh, you were baiting me? What could I say? Nobody outside of Québec tolerates it. I bet that you don't have a very high opinion of Southern-accented English yourself, do you? Don't lie."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you caught me there. All the y'alls, varmint and reckons, can't stand it. They keep calling soft drinks 'Coke'! That's a brand! Not a type of drink!"

"Alright, calm down, Rob. Somebody from the South might be listening in, this is the country's melting pot, after all."

"You think? All the transplants are gone by now, fleeing the city while crying about how scary the big city is after all that happened recently. 'Help! The news around here are so scary!'" He began to mock with a high-pitched voice. "'I wanna go back to mommy's house in Ohio! I wanna live in a small bubble in the middle of nowhere forever!'"

"Getting a bit mean-spirited there, Rob! What are you even talking about? Of course we have people not born here still around, look at me, for example."

"Why do you live here, anyways? France's pretty good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I liked it. Dad speaks very good English, which is kinda rare in France, no offense to my compatriots. That's a recipe for getting transferred to the US-based branch of his work, that's what happened to him, oh well."

"Aw. Do you miss it?"

"Of course. But I like it here too."

"Where did you live there?"

"Uh, in the East."

"Don't be so general! In what city? Do you really expect me to not know?"

"Hahaha, you probably know it, it wasn't a small town, I forgot about your traveler reputation, I applaud your confidence. I used to live in Reims."

"Aah! Reims!" Rob exclaimed while reminiscing. "Of course I know that place! It's great! Largest city in Champagne-Ardenne! You're lucky!"

"That's heartwarming, Rob. Would you like living there?"

"Of course not, that'd be horrible. I can barely spend my days out here already, imagine living there, with its miserable six-figure population."

"I love how anyone can make your opinion immediately flip just by asking that question."

"My opinion remains the same. It's a good place to see, but I wouldn't trade it for my home, even if I could speak French, who would?"

"Eh, some people. Do you think tourists never wish to live in the places they're visiting?"

"Not here. They complain about the noise, the crowds, the trash and the smell after visiting only Central Park and Times Square and never even leaving Manhattan. Then they *** off back to their Midwestern hamlets with a really inaccurate image of the city and never come back, good riddance. Too bad the bumpkins then keep dissing it everytime somebody brings it up."

"You're really bitter today, aren't you, Rob? Or am I just remembering you wrong? Lots of tourists love New York, and you shouldn't be so dismissive of them, all the stuff you enjoy highly depends on tourists too."

"Oh, you think I don't know that? With so much stuff closing nowadays? But hopefully they'll be replaced by something better, maybe even by animal-owned businesses, I can't wait to see what new stuff will pop up."

"Alright. Some optimism, that's better."

"Yeah, sorry about the negativity. I've been having an overdose of reading opinions that I strongly disagree with recently, I end up ranting about them to everyone I talk to, I'm so sorry. Even Brian and Xander have called me out on this already."

"Yeah, add 'Gaspar' to that list now too, haha."

"What have you been doing with Xander, by the way? He told me you two went for months without even seeing each other. Are you enjoying all the RPGs and stuff?"

"Not really, we're just playing video games here and in his house. I'm doing RPGs only with my Whitestone friends, and Xander's been doing the same but with his cat friends."

"Yeah, right. The 'Cats of Queens'."

"Xander was visited by two new pets while I was visiting him once, 'Peanut' and 'Grape'. They're pretty fun too, Xander told me they're a cat from his friend group and a club member from here."

"Yeah, but please, avoid unnecessary contact with Grape, the purple cat."

"Huh? Why? Is she contagious?"

"I don't mean it like that. She gets angry at nothing easily, threatening physical punishments over anything. At first I assumed she was joking and exaggerating, but she really isn't."

"Did she hit you?"

"She hit a friend. Frying pan to the head, two days in a hospital."

"Whoa! Wow! Alright, we two didn't talk much, she seems attached to Xander, I'll try to subtly avoid her then. Don't want that kind of abuse."

"Thanks. With Xander getting so close to her, I've been getting pretty worried. It's really eating me up, but he disregards all my concerns, I really hope he's ultimately right. At least now that Grape's boyfriend's in town, maybe that'll distract her."

"Now that you mention romance, I swear she was swooning over me or something, just looking at me with a really weird, uh, lustful? Look. It made me kinda uncomfortable."

"Agh! That's gross! Yeah, I think she's, um, a bit into dogs. Especially ones with, uh, your build."

"Oh. Yeah, better stay away from her, then. Don't wanna get hit in the head for rejecting her, in case she makes a move."

"She's violent, but I don't think she's the type of person who would make unwanted romantic advances, let's not go that far."

"Why? I'd much rather get kissed without consent than get hit in the head without consent."

"Uuh... She's committed already, to a cat, healthy relationship, from what Xander's told me. At least in that front you should be fine, she'll just swoon over you and try to hide it, I guess."

"Heh, alright. The kinds of people that Xander attracts, I swear."

"Volatile purple cats, obnoxious world travelers, French immigrants, such a weirdness magnet, isn't he?"

"Hey. Don't you dare."

"Haha, just teasing. I teased myself too, so it's fine. I guess with both of us only visiting the club once in a while, coinciding days like today will be very rare. Message me on Discord if you wanna do something, alright? It's always a joy to see one of my first mutual friends with Xander in person once in a while. See you some other day then, Gaspar!" Rob started walking away, towards the front doors.

"See you later, Rob! Have a good day!"

Just before Rob left, a brown dog entered the club a little carelessly, failing to hide a distressed face from Rob. The Retriever quickly cancelled his exit and approached the newcomer instead. "Bino!" He greeted. "What's going on?"

Bino stopped to talk, slightly irritated by the interruption. "Hello, Rob." He disguised. "Nothing much, I have to talk to Brian about a few things."

"Is Grape endangering you? Are you going to contest her unbanning?"

"No! Stop being so scared of her! You're a dog! Being scared of a cat is so pathetic! I don't care about the unbanning, she was scared off from here and that's all that matters, disregard Brian's ignorance and that Xander degenerate. I'm here to discuss some things with Brian, very private stuff, between me and him."

"Oh, alright. Go ahead then, I won't get between you two." Rob took a few steps away from Bino. "See you later!"

"See you later, Rob. Have a good day." He said his goodbyes politely before turning to the stairs, climbing them and soon facing Brian.

"Oh, Bino." Brian was briefly surprised, looking away from his monitor while sitting at his usual spot. "Finally shying away from only talking to Rob? Are you settling in well?"

"Cut the crap, Brian." Bino spat rudely, leaning on the desk while glaring at the Golden Retriever. "I just heard that my club got raided and closed, you had something to do with that, didn't you?"

"Your old club in Illinois? How would you even make that connection?"

"It's clear that you're competing with it! And with your power, running your megacorporation or whatever, I always knew you'd try to get rid of it with your, um, underhanded tactics."

"It's in the other side of the country, Bino! The howl are you talking about?! I don't even pay attention to the clubs here in our own metropolitan area, let alone the ones elsewhere!"

"You were jealous after I told everyone in the forums about it! I just know it! Guess what? I know a few people in powerful positions too! This place will be history soon!"

"Are you here to negotiate something or just to try to threaten me?"

"Admit it already! What did you do?! Why is the Good Ol' Dogs Club permanently shut down for 'illegal activities'?! Why is my girlfriend in a freaking jail?!"

Brian sighed, glancing at one of his desk's drawers as Bino's voice got more and more aggressive. "Alright, Bino. Although your suspicions of me are very unfounded, I have to admit that I'm responsible for your club shutting down. Not due to competition, or jealously, just due to the fact they were beating up people there. All I did was call the authorities and support a thorough investigation of a violent episode that happened there about a month ago, an incident which ended with my *daughter* getting hospitalized with several broken bones. The club didn't even have to close, it's just that one of the main perpetrators was the leader, and I think it couldn't survive without her."

"Duchess isn't the 'leader'! She's a co-administrator! I'm the leader! But I can't do anything from here! You better bail her out immediately before the Miltons find out about all of this! The people of Babylon Gardens must be miserable without my club operating!"

"Your little girlfriend's going to rot as far as I'm concerned, try finding someone who isn't a murderer next time. I couldn't care less about the ruffians there not having a place to hang out anymore, and I'm pretty sure those bankrupt ferrets don't pay it too much mind either. Now. I respect you, Bino, solely because you're Rob's friend. But if you don't stop this little hostile act against me and my club this instant, you're getting banned, and your little murderous 'Duchess' will go from being charged with 'conspiracy to commit aggravated battery' to 'attempted murder', and you know how that ends for dogs." Brian threatened calmly.

"Ah!" Bino took a step back, desperately suppressing an outburst. "Uh, see you, later." He hastily started walking away.

"See ya! Remember I'm doing you a favor, everyone involved in this charade would be getting 'put to sleep' weeks ago, if I were a slightly worse person. Here's a little tip: If you ever see your 'girlfriend' again, hopefully more than a decade from now and deported to another country, tell her to stay the *** away from my daughter!" Brian suddenly growled.

"Argh! See! You! Later!" The brown dog repeated, trying to make the goodbye sound as angry as possible, growling before leaving the room.

"Humph, the kind of people Rob can somehow tolerate." Brian rolled his eyes. "I can see why you'd want to hit that dog in the head."
Last edited by Wortge on Sat Sep 26, 2020 5:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Obbl
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Obbl »

Gah! Rob! :lol: He's so stuck on his opinions
And yes, Bino has a very backpfeifengesicht :D
You mind if I offer Japanese corrections?
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Wortge
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Wortge »

Xander's a self-taught amateur Japanese speaker with his experience limited to the Internet, video games, and tourist traps in Tokyo. Any minor mistakes he makes can be attributed to that. I even intentionally made him say goodbye to Rob in a very 'un-Japanese' way, but if there are mistakes so grating to the point of him getting out-of-character, please point them out.

Making characters who know more than the writer about a certain subject is always a gamble, especially if you make them talk about it.
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Obbl
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Re: Chronicles of the CPDC

Post by Obbl »

Ah, okay, wasn't sure how much of that was intentional :lol:
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