--Point of View: Crim--

I saw their faces flash before my eyes, the past clawing its way back into my head against all my efforts to keep it at bay. Friends, family, and my fellow soldiers all lost to either war or time. Slaughtered for our believes, our culture, or simply for being different. We had no choice but to fight if we wanted to survive. That poor child just now probably suffered until the very end. Mankind may call me a monster but if you ask me, they are far scarier. Why do such a thing? I guess we may never know.

“Crim, you in there?” came a distant voice, drawing me back to the present.

I blinked and looked around quickly, forgetting for a moment where I was. Tiled floors, artificial lights, and a faint smell that permeated everything. It reminded me of the chemicals we used in the past to clean and disinfect. An odor I was starting to grow tired of. Thankfully, there were other things I could focus on.

“Yes, I’m here. Sorry about that. What did you say?” I asked, looking up to see Katie who was giving me a worried look.

“I asked if you were coming? You were just standing there. I was beginning to worry.” She said, motioning to an open door. “We are here.”

I gave a nod and followed her into the next room, this one just as big as the last. I was relieved to see there were no giant glass tubes but instead, a wide assortment of tables, benches, and various other machines I did not recognize. This room was supposed to be for research and development, whatever that consisted of anyway. The majority of everything I saw here was new to me or so different I did not recognize it. Katie seemed incredibly happy though so it must all be amazing. She kept turning to me to exclaim how incredible whatever she had found was and I had to resort to simply nodding in agreement. It was hard to be excited when I was just overwhelmed at every turn.

“Well, it looks like there is quite a lot more to look at here,” said Katie, walking past him to see further into the room, standing on her tip toes.”

“Agreed. I don’t know what I’m looking at so I may as well stick close.” I remarked, giving a small shrug, or at least what felt like a shrug in this beastly body. Even after a few hundred years, old habits die hard.

We discussed for all of thirty seconds how we would tackle this room and quickly settled on just starting along one wall and working our way back before going up the middle and then down the opposite side. It made sense to me, so I went along with the plan. Our first stop was the nearest corner which had about a dozen tables, all of which housed a terminal as Katie called them along with stacks upon stacks of books. I had never seen so many books in one place outside of a library and even then, one of noble ownership.

Katie was ecstatic over all the information to be discovered in the endless amounts of text that stretched out before us. I showed a bit less enthusiasm due to the fact I was barely literate in my own time, let alone this future. So, while she was busy poring over those, I was carefully pulling open desk drawers, one claw at a time, to see if I could find anything that required less reading. Dozens and dozens of drawers were ripped from their rails onto the floor, a small pile forming as I haphazardly dug my nose through their contents. I was met with the smell of paper, ink and the occasional tinge of steel from the little nick-nacks scattered about. Katie would sneak a glance from time to time, a small hint of disapproval on their face. I do not think they fancied my organizational skills. One could only do so much with giant, clawed, paws.

Only after my collection of rubbish had neared head level did I uncover something that caught my eye, though just barely. I accidently spilled a bunch of little paintings all over the ground. I had to lean down closer to get a better look at them but even then, I could make out several humans all gathered around in the first one. The others were much the same but a few of them had people standing next to what I would assume were experiments, a proud smile on their faces.

“Hey! Katie, I found something you may like. Lots of paintings in these drawers with a bunch of the old workers in them. They are marvelously done!” I yelled, raising my head from the ground and peering around for my comrade.

“Little Paintings? You mean photographs?” she answered back, popping up from behind a desk of her own. She quickly tidied her current work before rushing over to have a look for herself.

“What is a photograph?” I asked, looking back and forth between the pictures and Katie.

“It’s like a painting but done by a machine so it’s pretty much a perfect likeness. Here, let me show you.” She responded as she jogged back over to her bag to retrieve another one of her many gadgets.

“Wait, what? Is it going to hurt? Maybe you shouldn’t….” I said in surprise, not quite sure if I wanted to be involved in what was about to occur. Before I could protest further though, a bright flash of light momentarily blinded me. “What are you doing!”

“Oh, calm down Crim, you’ll be fine. I just took your picture with my camera. Here, take a look.” Said Katie just a few feet away from me.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away the daze until I could focus on the small little device she was holding up to me. It had a small screen on it like the ones sitting atop the nearby desks. Once I leaned in and looked closer, I saw myself, sitting right where I was now.

“That’s me!” I exclaimed, pressing my snout against the smooth piece of glass. “And you were able to make it so quickly! In my time, even with magic you would have to sit still for hours, and the picture was still not this good.” I continued to ramble on, an amused grin on Katie’s face the entire time.

“Well, I’m glad you like it. I may be able to snag you one if you’d like. Must be careful though with what I bring back into the base. I’m going to have to delete it for now” And with that comment and one click, the picture vanished. It was kind of sad in a way.

Returning the camera to her bag, Katie would turn her attention to the photos sprinkled on the floor around me. Eyes wide with fascination, you could tell that she was just as amazed as I was. It was a quick task for her to scoop up everything into a nice, neat pile so it was easier to look through them all. We began to flip through them together, Katie holding them up for me to see a bit easier. Like I had seen previously, the first dozen or so were just pictures of past residents working here in the lab. They all showed individuals posing with their work. Katie commented that while these were fascinating, they would not interest the higher ups.

“I must say, regardless of their worth, it’s nice to see just how similar we are even with a thousand years between us.” She said as she continued to flip through the photos, commenting now and again about what she saw in them.

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It was not until we neared the end of our little slideshow when we came across a picture that made us both go silent. I blinked and shook my head to make sure what I was seeing was correct. Katie seemed to be just as perplexed as me, whipping her head back and forth between me and the picture.

“Crim, that looks just like…” She said slowly as she brought the picture closer.

“Like me.” I said softly, still in utter disbelief. Contained within the thin white boards of the photograph, was a relatively handsome man standing next to what appeared to be myself, or at least something that looked just like me. I looked hard for a good few moment until I realized the beast was a good deal shorter than me.

“Crim, you don’t think this could be you, do you?” Asked Katie, pulling the picture back to take a closer look at it herself. “It sure would explain a lot about you or at least make you seem a little less strange. Hell, they could have created you here, in this lab for all we know.”

I rolled her words around in my head, pushing myself to perhaps remember something I had long forgotten or suppressed but no matter how hard I struggled, nothing came to mind. My first memories as a beast were waking up in the ruins to the sun beating down overhead. I was lost and confused and could hardly manage in this body the first couple of days. It was like I had been born again after death, but God made a mistake or simply had a sense of humor.

“I don’t think so. I think I would have remembered a place like this.” I remarked, looking around at all the oddities that surrounded me. “They must be more of whatever I am. I can’t be the only one. Who only makes one of anything?”

Katie furrowed her brow, obviously deep in thought herself as she flicked through more of the pictures, quickly skipping over ones of lesser interest.

“Aha! Here’s a couple more.” She exclaimed as she came across another picture with what looked to be me but this time, I was not alone. There were three red beasts, sitting side by side on one of these very tables. They all appeared older than the first, or at least they were bigger. “You were right after all. It looks like you have some brothers and sisters somewhere.”

A snort escaped me. “I’m not sure how I feel about that to be honest. Its kind of weird.” I said simply, trying to imagine for a moment myself playing together with others of my kind. It felt wrong or at least not comfortable. I imagine that comes from the fact I was once human. My humanity is clenching at what little remained.

“That’s fair. I have siblings and don’t care for any of them. Love them but can’t stand them. You know?” Katie said as she continued to flip through the last remaining photos, pulling out any that showed any resemblance to myself. There were far more than I would have thought. When she neared the end though, she paused at one picture and held it up to the light, almost dubious of what she was seeing.

“Hey Crim, what do you make of this?” she inquired, slowly turning the picture around and holding it up for me to see. I was also surprised and for a few reasons.

The picture showed what looked like a whole squad of red beasts, all as large as myself and lined up one by one in front of a large circle doorway. While that was strange on its own, what was even more odd was the fact each wolf wore a contraption on its back. It looked sleek, almost like armor and had lots of tubes running down to each limb, even the tail. What was going on in this picture? It almost looks like they were preparing for war.

“I’m no expert, but they look ready for a fight.” I blurted out, still baffled. “What they are fighting I have no idea. Also, they surely are not fighting here.”

“No, they aren’t. That’s a gate they are standing in front of. I recognize them from several books on the old ones. It lets them travel from one place to another. Almost like magic.” Katie replied, taking another look at the photo with a keener eye this time. “We’ve found one before with a little bit of juice still left in it. Managed to send a few people through. Ended up half a galaxy away. Luckily for them there was enough power on the other end to bring them back.

“I don’t understand how you didn’t believe in magic until a few weeks ago. A doorway that lets you walk across the stars? That’s magic.” I commented, giving Katie a questioning gaze.

“No, it’s not magic. Its science. We understand how they work just not how to make it work. They are very complicated and use an unimaginable amount of power. It was a miracle we found one that worked after sitting dormant for so long. Regardless though, if there is one here, that is big news. Huge news. We need to find where this is”

Katie pocketed the photograph along with a few others and brought out her map. She began muttering to herself while I just sat around idly. After a few moments, I decided to ask what she was planning.

“So, this room. Any idea where it may be? We’ve got a map so that should help, right?” I asked, leaning over her to take a look myself.

“Yeah, but we have a problem. This map isn’t complete. There are multiple floors, and this is floor one. This could take days to fully…” Katie stopped mid-sentence and looked down at her wrist, yet another gadget fastened firmly to it.

I watched her whole-body language change from curious to panic. Something was very wrong, and I had a feeling I knew what it was. “We lost track of time, didn’t we?”

“Yes, I can’t believe I didn’t set an alarm. Everyone will be arriving back from the tower within the hour. If I’m caught out here, they will ask questions and I don’t think I could get away lying for very long.” She exclaimed, jumping up from the desk she was sitting on and hastily tossing all her supplies into her bag.

Without saying another word, she started running back the way we came. I followed behind her with little effort, a bit worried myself now. If she was questioned and told them about me, I would be in a lot of trouble too. We needed to go a little faster so I did the obvious thing.

“Katie, stop. This is stupid. You are slow, no offense. Hop on my back and let’s get you home quickly. You’re not the only one who’s going to be in trouble if things go south.” I yelled, leaping in front of her in a single bound before lowering myself down to let her climb on.

“You know what, I’m not even going to question it at this point. You’re right.” She said quickly before throwing a leg over my back and clenching tufts of fur in each hand.

As soon as I felt her grab hold, I was gone, bolting through the corridors like an arrow as we reached the entrance in record time. I could feel Katie doing her best to hold on, adjusting her grip lower around my neck so she could lay flat.

“Oh my god, you could have at least gave me a warning beforehand Crim. I nearly let go right from the start.” Cried Katie as she held on tight.

“My apologies. I should have realized. This is a first for me.” I said back, craning my head to the side to see for myself that she was still there.

The underground became a blur as I picked up speed, having more room to stretch out now. It would be safer to travel down here and thankfully, her base connected directly to it. I would have to slow down once I got close though to be careful. Katie said there should be nobody around, but I would rather be cautious. The risk was too great.

As I ran, I would continuously look back to make sure Katie was still holding on strong, asking every few minutes or so if I should stop. She was insistent that I keep going at full speed. I decided not to tell her I was going at a moderate pace to avoid any accidents. An accident at this speed would be fatal for her.

“Are we getting close?” yelled Katie, having to speak up over the air rushing past. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

I cocked my head to one side, confused for a moment but they felt like an idiot for forgetting that while I could see pretty well in the dark, Katie could not.

“It shouldn’t be too much longer. Once we turn up head, you should be able to see all the lights your people setup down here a little ways off. I’ll get you close and let you run the rest of the way. I don’t want to get any closer to the base than I have to if your kind are going to be returning shortly." I called back, hoping she was okay with that.

“That’s fine. We made good time. I should be able to get back into the lab with fifteen or so minutes to spare. No harm done. Thank you, Crim., I owe you one.” She said, giving my head a hefty pat before quickly catching her grip again.

With that decided, it was quick work to get Katie back home. The tunnels slowly got brighter as more and more lights appeared overhead. Once we got a little too close for comfort, I stopped and let her disembark on her own. She waved goodbye hurriedly and ran for the door leading into the lab. I nodded in return.

“See you next week. Same time, same place.” I shouted before turning and vanishing down another passage heading towards home.