Bubba did not use TikTok, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every dog of Earth, large and small, from the blistering Saharan desert to the icy tundras of Antarctica. Because man, ever pushing the boundaries of science and technology, had in their groping foolishness finally bitten off more than they could chew...
Meat.
I smelled meat. Not rotten meat. Fresh. Fresh like I hadn’t smelled in a long, long time.
Hurriedly, I padded between the aisles of metal boxes, nose down, sniffing. Close. I was close.
The smell filled my nostrils, circled around my head. It reminded me of a time I’d had plenty of meat, and warm beds, and soft hands placed upon my head. But no longer.
Now, I only had the meat. It was nearby, I knew it. I just had to find where it could be...
There!
I lifted my head and saw it. A burger. Still half wrapped in soft paper, the paper which didn’t taste good on its own, but yielded to my teeth and paws and usually had such delectable grease coating it. My mouth drooled at the thought, and my tail wagged involuntarily.
Before I could stop myself, I was rushing forward, gobbling up the abandoned food. Food! Still warm, and soft, and with such delicious meat as I hadn’t tasted in... in... I don’t recall. Days. Too many sleeps to count. Not that I could.
Only when the burger was gone, and the paper licked of its last remaining specks of delicious grease did I notice I wasn’t alone.
It was a man. An older man, but not so old that he’d begun to show it in his hair and face. He lay half fallen, legs spread wide across the ground, back leaning against one of the metal boxes. I froze when I realized he was there, a soft growl emitting from my throat. The man didn’t move.
I finally realized the man was not likely to move ever again. A dark slash ran from one side of his throat to the other, and his shirt was stained with blood. His head drooped forward, like he was asleep, his expression peaceful. I padded closer. A soft whine this time.
With my nose, I gave the man a careful nudge. He slid to one side, his head hitting the ground with a thump. I jumped back, but he didn’t move further.
Dead. The human was dead.
Still, I sniffed him all over just to make sure. He wore a strong leather jacket that still smelled faintly of the animal it had come from, and one of his hands still curled around a large stick, too big to be a throwing stick, which smelled of oil and grease and those large angry boxes with four wheels the humans liked to sit in. I pawed at it for a moment but left it alone once I determined it wasn’t food.
Food.
My stomach still rumbled. The burger had been delicious, but not enough. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt the weight of a full stomach. Not since before the other humans stopped coming here to the metal box yard. Not since the city had fallen silent.
I sniffed the human again, but not smelling any more food on him I turned away.
I stopped. I turned back.
Food. The human was dead, but not long dead. He didn’t smell like meat, like the burger, but he didn’t smell not like meat, either.
The longer I stared at the human, the more my mouth filled with drool. It was right there. Dead. For the taking.
And I was so hungry.
Yet I hesitated. I knew what happened to those that ate man flesh. I’d been at a place once with many dogs, all in cages, all barking endlessly. One, a little dog with an angry face, had bitten the human that brought us our food. They’d taken the dog away using long poles. We’d never seen him again.
I didn’t want to be like that dog. A human flesh taker. Carted away to who-knows-what fate. But the dead man. He was right there. And nobody else was around to see.
I hadn’t spotted another human for many days. And with their disappearance went their trash. Their delicious sandwiches. Their discarded apples. Their burger wrappers and half-eaten tacos and nearly empty boxes of Chinese food. So many delicious things. All gone now.
And the dead man was right here.
I turned back. Nudged the stick that smelled of oil and grease aside. The human’s hand lay open, palm up. Inviting.
My nose sniffed. The flesh was soft there. Uncovered, unlike the rest of him. Easy to reach. I hesitated. Instinct warred with hunger inside me.
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Hunger won.
Hesitantly, I nibbled a bit. A bit more. The skin parted easily under my teeth. Underneath, the blood was already sluggish, but the flesh was warm and delicious. And it was meat.
Meat.
I lost myself then. I lost myself to the tearing, the swallowing, as the man quickly became a not man. Became nothing more than meat. I was so hungry, but even so, there was so much of him. Too much. I ate my fill, and then beyond that. My stomach gorged itself, expanded until it hung low to the ground. Until I thought I might be sick with it all.
Finally, I could eat no more. I stumbled away from the body. From the not-man-just-meat. One of the boxes nearby was open, its darkness empty and dry and inviting. Inside I slipped, and lay on the hard metal floor, and rested. Satisfied.
Full. At last. At long last.
My eyelids fluttered, sleep heavy on them. I knew I needed to move, to not be so near the meat, in case other predators came. In case other humans came. But I was so full. So I slept.
But not long. Something, some sense awoke me. Not hearing, not smell, but some sense I didn’t recognize. Some inner sense of wrongness woke me, and I opened my eyes, and they were in front of me.
Congratulations! Compatible vessel for Interface Overlay detected. Please wait...
I blinked. The squiggly things in front of my eyes made no sense to me, but I vaguely recognized them. From the before time. The good times.
They were something humans used. I didn’t understand them, didn’t know their use for them, but humans had considered them precious. They put them everywhere.
More of the squiggly things appeared.
Generating base interface...
Generation complete.
Name: *Input Required*
Race: Canine (Basic)
Class: *Unassigned*
Level: 0
XP: 0/1,000
-Equipment-
Head: *Error: invalid skeletal pattern detected*
Chest: *Error: invalid skeletal pattern detected*
Left Hand: *Error: hands not detected*
Right Hand: *Error: hands not detected*
Legs: *Error: invalid number of legs detected*
-Racial Skills-
Skill 1: *Unassigned*
Skill 2: *Unassigned*
Skill 3: *Unassigned*
Skill 4: *Unassigned*
-Class Skills-
Skill 1: *Unassigned*
-Stats-
Power: 7
Speed: 6
Agility: 5
Presence: 3
Mind: 0
Points Available: 0
They were everywhere now. No matter which way I turned my head, the squiggly things followed. My hackles rose, and a deep growl slipped from my throat. The squiggly things didn’t retreat.
Error: language mismatch detected.
Searching database for compatible language...
I couldn’t help it. I barked. Once. Twice. Two more times. I knew that was dangerous, that this attracted the attention of humans, but the squiggly things wouldn’t go away. My hackles were fully up now, but still the things. Wouldn’t. Leave.
Compatible language not found. Attempting to generate compatible language.
Uhh... Woof woof?
I barked again.
Language generation failed.
Commencing debug protocol sequence... Please wait...
The following issues have been detected:
1. The user cannot communicate with interface.
2. The user possesses an invalid Mind value of 0.
3. The user possesses the incorrect values for equipment usage.
4. The user appears to be a member of a non-sapient species.
The following resolutions are recommended:
1. User interface be updated to align more accurately with user limitations.
2. User race be adjusted within the allowed limits of the system for beginning users.
3. Awards for user be adjusted to match with user limitations.
Debug protocol complete. System integrating recommendations... please wait...
Recommendations integrated. User’s race will now be adjusted. Commencing metamorphosis protocol sequence.
Suddenly, my legs couldn’t move. I barked louder. Something was spreading up my legs. My barks turned to whimpers, and I attempted to pull away. My legs wouldn’t obey. I could just see that a white, filmy substance was spreading, growing. Rising.
It reached my chest, and my whines stilled. My whole body was locked in place. Only my head could twist about, looking for a threat that wasn’t there. Panic gripped me like never before.
This was because I had broken the rule. I had tasted man flesh, and now I would pay with my life. I couldn’t even whine in regret.
The filmy substance reached my head. My mouth sealed shut. My nose. White clouds covered my eyes, and the interior of the metal box faded from view. For a moment, all I could see was white. Then I couldn’t even see that.
Phase one of metamorphosis protocol complete. Commencing phase two.
Time to completion: 10 days.