My plans were ruined almost immediately. Less than an hour after leaving, I heard thrashing in the brush. I stopped and listened. Along with the thrashing was a faint growling and whining sound. I snuck forward. Whatever it was was small, and I wouldn’t turn down any source of food.

I crept closer, my heart racing. It was a small creature, about the size of a large house cat, with the body shape of a puppy or bear cub. Fluffy fur covered most of it, but as I leaned in, I saw glints of metal where I expected only skin and fur. Its head was… strange. As if someone had fused a metal dome to its skull, the top half of its face was smooth and metallic, an oval-shaped crown with ribbons of metal running down its back and legs. No eyes, nose, or ears. It looked like a toy—a cross between a stuffed animal and a machine

The cyber-puppy was trapped in some sort of snare wrapped around its neck, and it was trying to get itself free. I gasped at the sight of the snare. It was the first evidence I have seen of other people, aside from the smoke trails. This means someone has been here, relatively close to me, for a while. That, or they saw where I landed and have been looking for me too. I need to leave a sign, but first I had to deal with the pup.

The thing was almost pitiful. I may be a hardened criminal put in a system of slavery and unjust treatment for something I didn’t even have anything to do with, but this was still a puppy. I sighed and grabbed my knife end of the spear. “Shh… calm down, little dude. I’m going to get you out of there.” I pushed the pup down so I could get at its neck. It immediately started snarling and growling. The sudden aggression was so fierce I almost backed up. Even so, I cut the cord around its neck. On being freed, the thing dashed off. It ran in a big circle and turned to face me. It was still snarling and growling like a demon. Its teeth were small, but I could see how razer sharp they were.

“What are you going to do? Just go before you draw somethings att - oof!” The creature sprang at me, a pulse of yellow light flashing down its back just before it hit me like a cannonball. Pain exploded in my chest as I crashed to the ground, gasping for air. Stars danced in my vision, and I couldn’t tell if I’d cracked a rib or worse. No natural creature, besides a jumping spider, could tackle with that much speed. Before I could push myself up, sharp metal teeth clamped onto my hand. I couldn’t even scream as I felt the flesh tear. I tried to throw it off, but the monster was heavier than it looked.

I put my free hand on its dome. As I tried to push the creature off, the dome on its head started to glow yellow, then green. A dozen tiny needles shot out from its head and pierced my skin. I yanked my hand back, wincing in pain. A strange warmth spread from my palm, and then an electric pulse shot through my body, blurring my vision. Numbers and letters swam in front of me, glowing in midair like hallucinations. My head throbbed with a thousand tiny pinpricks, each one sharper than the last. What the hell was happening to me?

It let go, dropping to the ground. I staggered back, sure I had just been injected with some venom. It just stood there, looking at me and growling low. My head began to hurt. It was like a headache mixed with a thousand tiny shocks of electricity. It steadily grew worse as my vision clouded, the world flooding in and out. In a daze, wandering through the jungle away from that little bastard, I realized my hand was still fucked up. Strips of flesh hung from it and it was dripping a worrisome amount of blood. I couldn’t move two of my fingers. The tendons must have been severed. With my other hand shaking and my headache growing more painful, I managed to retrieve an ENMS from my pocket, where I kept it for emergencies like this one. I pulled the pin and dowsed my hand in the silvery material. The puppy just watched, licking its jowls.

The world fuzzed in and out, like a lens focusing in and out, and numbers began appearing around the world. As the adrenaline wore off, the world darkened. I fell back, landing on my back, and the world darkened.

I came in and out of consciousness. It was getting later in the day. Numbers and words appeared in my vision in jumbles, but I couldn’t make anything of them. Once I was awoken by the sound of barking. I could see the small cyber-puppy barking menacingly at a figure in a tree. The one eyed monkey. But before I could get up, I lost consciousness again. When I woke up, the headache was still there, but the electrical sensation was gone. I groaned and something hot and wet slathered onto my face. It stank of blood and bad breathe. The puppy was licking my face. I recoiled and it jumped away barking at me angrily. It’s little tail was between its leg, wagging furiously. Text filled my view.

BOND SUCCESSFUL.

I stood up, surprised I wasn’t dead. Something about the world was clearer, more vibrant. I looked down at the little monster. After a second, its cranium flashed green and the text changed.

PULSE HOUND

DESIGNATION: N/A

SOUL: Beast

LEVEL: Hatchling 25%

HEALTH: Stable

ENERGY: 6

STATUS: Bonded

BOND: 40%

SKILLS:

Power up: 5%

Pulse: 15%

Savagery: 20%

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength: 1

Agility: 2

Density: 2

Energy: 2

Utility: 1

ATTRIBUTES, DERIVED:

Speed: 2

Intelligence: 3

Toughness: 3

Reaction: 3

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DESIGNATE WEAPON?

“Uh, what?” I asked, dumbly. In response the text changed to: SPEAK THE DESIGNATION OF THE WEAPON OR SPEAK “HELP” FOR MORE INFORMATION.

My head swam. Did I go crazy? The pulse hound just sat there, not attacking or fleeing. It looks just as unsure as I was. I took a deep breath. What the hell, why not? My dad always told me, “If you ever go crazy, son, have fun doing it.” My dad knew how to have fun being crazy.

“Help?” I said tentatively. Immediately text filled my view.

THE DESIGNATION OF YOUR NEWLY BONDED NEXOCITE WEAPON IS YOUR PERSONAL CALL FOR THIS WEAPON. IT IS WHAT WILL BE USED TO DISTINGUISH YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPONS AS WELL AS TO ISSUE VERBAL ORDERS TO YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPON. YOUR NEXOCITE WEAPON WILL RESPOND TO THIS DESIGNATION WHEN USED BY OTHERS, BUT IT WILL ONLY FOLLOW ORDERS OF ITS OWNER. SPEAK THE DESIGNATION NOW OR USE A COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO TYPE YOUR RESPONSE.

A name? Ok, I guess I have to name the thing. What does it mean bonded? I’ve always been shit at naming things. I had a pet cat named misses claws and a pet fish I called swimmer. I looked at the dog… the pulse hound. Its metal dome reminded me of a crown. Wait, why was I even bothering to name it. The fucker tried to kill me. I decided to name it anyway.

“Uh, King?”

THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED, “Uhking”. IS THIS CORRECT?

“Shit, no.”

PLEASE SPEAK THE DESIGNATION NOW OR USE A COMPATIBLE DEVICE TO TYPE YOUR RESPONSE.

I cleared my throat. “King!“ I said clearly and loudly. King barked.

THE NEXOCITE WEAPON HAS BEEN DESIGNATED “King”, IS THIS CORRECT?

“Correct.” I was getting into it. As weird as it was, it was exciting. It was then that I noticed my pack. I had landed on it, but somehow the pulse hound, King now I guess, had tore into it. Silver foil was strewn all around the area. After a quick glance through, I saw he only took out the whole food ration bar that remained. I was saving that for an emergency. King had eaten the entire bar.

“Oh, you asshole!” King growled back. We were apparently bonded, but it still looked uneasy. It was there, at the edge of my mind. I could feel it, like a tight string connecting me to it. I still had some fruit in the pack, but I wasn’t comfortable with traveling with just that. King had eaten the rest of it. I needed to regather supplies.

Then I remembered what he did to my hand. Looking at it, it was whole. No missing flesh or torn skin. Rather, where King had ripped away flesh and the meat of my hand was that same metal-like substance. It made my hand look like one of those clay jars repaired with silver or gold. It felt smooth, the transition from flesh to metal was seamless. Even the severed tendons have been repaired. It was also flexible and pliable. I could even feel through it. This was the same material of Kings head and ribbons. Nexocite, I realized, wasn't a brand. It was a substance. Something that can heal wounds and turn puppies into little death machines. I flipped my hand over. There was a glowing green light on the back of my hand. From it ran a series of silver Nexocite lines that ran down my arm and faded away.

I felt sick. Whatever this stuff was, it was clearly inside of me. I touched the green dot. There was no bump or texture, just a glow. I needed to get back to my shelter. Exploring would have to wait for another day. First, I tried to back peddle and find my spear. I easily found the remnants of the snare. My spear was gone. Great. Then I noticed King following me.

“You tried to kill me yesterday.” King whined and stopped following. He was keeping his distance, but still seemed to want to follow. “You ate my food.” His tail started wagging and he barked. “Why would I let you come with me?” King tilted his head to the side. If it had eyes, they would have been huge and watery at that moment. I gave in. “Goddammit, fine. You can come with me. But, don’t expect a free ride.” King barked excitedly and ran in a little circle.

A bond. That’s what it said. Bonded. As if this little demon and I were suddenly inseparable. I glanced down at my hand, feeling the strange warmth from the Nexocite spread through my veins. Part of me wanted to rip this thing off and run… but another part wondered if this 'bond' might be the only way to survive this place. The question was: could I really trust it? I had a sinking feeling that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

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